Nighthawks
Edward Hopper's painting of four figures inside a brightly lit late-night diner — the canonical image of American urban loneliness.
Origin
Edward Hopper painted it in early 1942, shortly after Pearl Harbor. The diner has no visible door; the three customers sit silent under a wall of empty bottles; the city street outside is dark and deserted. Hopper said the diner was inspired by 'a restaurant on Greenwich Avenue where two streets meet,' though no exact location matches. The painting was bought by the Art Institute of Chicago for $3,000 and has hung there since.
Modern usage
Endlessly parodied: replace the figures with Elvis, James Dean, and Marilyn Monroe (the 'Boulevard of Broken Dreams' version), or with Homer Simpson, or with the cast of any sitcom. 'Nighthawks vibe' means lonely, fluorescent-lit, urban, slightly noir. Half of Tom Waits's discography lives in the aesthetic.
Tags