The Premise Behind the Picture

After doing a little more reading on Nighthawks, I was pleased to find that Hopper had actually provided something of a background on the painting, which makes it easier to analyse. I read in a book I took out of the library called 'Portraits of America' which explores Hopper's work. In it, he said this about Nighthawks:

It was suggested by a restaurant on Greenwich Avenue where two streets meet. I simplified the scene a great deal and made the restaurant bigger. Unconsciously, probably, I was painting the loneliness of a large city.' 

I appreciated this comment he made about his own work, and thought it was very honest. I have noticed after a brief look at what is said about his other works as well, that there seems to be a common bleak theme underneath the picture. People seem to get a sense of sickness, loneliness and death although it is not directly present.

Another thing I read in the book was that Ernest Hemingway was an influence on his piece, due to Hopper's admiration for his work, and in this case especially the short story 'The Killers' which you can find here:

http://www.unz.org/Pub/Scribners-1927mar-00227

This short story is similarly set in a diner, and you can really imagine that short story having taken place in the diner shown in Nighthawks.