Saturday, June 9, 2007

Nighthawks



This is one of my favorite paintings: "Nighthawks" by Edward Hopper.

Brilliant, and telling.

Haven't we all felt like this at some point, in public or not? I wonder what he's thinking about...

4 comments:

Megan said...

I'm usually pretty good at finding at least some meaning behind artwork, but I'm at a loss with this one.

I see a painting that evokes nostalgia... not much more. Unless- the brilliance is in the man sitting alone by the window... His back is to the window like he doesn't want to face the outside world that's staring in at him through the huge windows that surround him.

Just a guess. What is it that you see??

Jami said...

He's sitting alone at a bar. He seems alone, perhaps waiting for something, or thinking about something sad or regretful. Even though he is at the end of the barstool, he is the center of the picture. He is the focus, even though this person, in public, is normally overlooked. No one usually pays attention to such a person; we normally overlook the wallflower and continue our own conversation. Haven't we all been this person at one time or another?

Does this make more sense Megan? Do you agree or disagree with me?

I like your interpretation though. I love to get many ideas of artwork besides my own. Thanks for the comment--I like and appreciate your point of view!

Megan said...

Would you beleive that I somehow deleted TWO entire comments before posting them??

Because I'm lazy, stubborn, and mad at blogger ('cause it's blogger's fault, not mine!)I'm not going to retype the whole thing.

So here's sort of what I said...

1.Read the Wiki page for Nighthawks.

2. Wallflower-type people intrigue me... mostly because I grew up as a wallflower... I'm just curious to know their life stories...

3. Thanks for writing all of this good stuff and making me think... you're preventing my brain from turning into mush this summer...

Jami said...

You really make me happy that you read and avidly comment. I'm glad we're talking here.

I enjoy that I'm making you think too (because that's what I always want to encourage EVERYONE to do; hence becoming a teacher), but YOU are actually making ME think! I just read over the wiki, which was really enlightening. I never looked into what others thought, just merely used my own ideas. I feel like I have a lot more background on it now--definitely makes more sense at this point.

I never thought about the physical structure as entrapment and confinement, and I never thought about the time era by which it was constructed and inspired. The gloominess over WWII... Definitely an idea to keep in mind...

So thank you, for making me see deeper into something I overlooked. And I refuse to let your brain turn to mush this summer. You're too smart for that!