Like Hopper's Nighthawks painting, The Maltese Falcon is also named after a rare bird of prey: a silent, stealthy predator that fits in well with a classic film noir theme. Released in 1941 just a year before Hopper's Nighthawks, The Maltese Falcon is one of the most famous examples of classic Hollywood film noir and based on a hard-boiled detective novel by author Dashiell Hammett. What does film noir have to do with the meaning of the Edward Hopper painting? Nighthawks Painting Title Meaning & The Maltese Falcon Film Noir NIGHTHAWKS BY EDWARD HOPPER MOVIEHow does film noir factor into the meaning of Nighthawks by Edward Hopper? What is film noir? Translated from French as "black film," the term Film noir is usually used to describe a kind of murder mystery movie that was very popular in Hollywood in the 1940s and early 1950s, the same decade Nighthawks was painted. What is Film Noir? Definition and Meaning In fact, diner culture did not become popular in the US until the late 1920s, finally allowing night owls and insomniacs like the assembled characters in Hopper's painting a place to relax and chat late at night, escaping the lonely city outside for a while. According to the artist, the diner in Nighthawks is based off a real restaurant located in Hopper's New York Greenwich Village neighborhood at an intersection "where two streets meet." In stark contrast with the dark streets outside, the harsh florescent lighting illuminating the inside of the diner had just become popular in the early 1940s, when Nighthawks was painted. What is the meaning of Nighthawks by Edward Hopper? History of Edward Hopper's Painting Nighthawks (1942)Įdward Hopper's realist painting Nighthawks literally gives the viewer a look inside 1940s American urban culture from the outside. What comes next is my personal selection of parodies and variations.Artist Edward Hopper's painting Nighthawks (1942) is one of the most famous American works of art of the 20th century, providing an analytic and historical snapshot of 1940s American culture in a scene that seems to be taken straight out of a classic Hollywood film noir. Indeed, everyone can find their own favorite Nighthawks meme. Therefore, I would like to go the other way around and pay attention to how well known fictional and real personalities invade the restaurant of Nighthawks. Nothing in the image tells us to “get into” the restaurant and the human figure are four night owls lost in their thoughts.Įdward Hopper‘s images have indeed inspired movie productions and many generations of artists, but clearly Nighthawks is the one that has endured the most variations, even before internet was around. The scenes take place in “no places” such as this restaurant, which was inspired by “a restaurant on New York’s Greenwich Avenue where two streets meet” but at the same time it’s universal, timeless. That is to say, you feel like a weird observer, like in Hitchcock’s Rear Window. Edward Hopper’s Nighthawks is one of the best known images of 20th century art that has also become one of the most popular meme sources of the 21st century, appearing on the Internet in endless renditions.Įdward Hopper‘s melancholic paintings are an invitation to imagination.
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