Nighthawks is an oil and canvas painting painted by Edward Hooper in 1942. This realist painting provides the viewer with a look into the 1940s American urban culture from the outside. The viewer is isolated from the scene, given that there is no entry into the diner, just as the portraits in the scene are isolated from each other and the world. Hooper combines the use of color, value, lines, and asymmetrical composition to illustrate the loneliness and isolation in a modern town.
Four figures are seated in a diner, three of them are customers and one of them is the waiter. The figures seem to be conversing but it does not seem to be the case given the lack of eye contact and their facial expressions which do not indicate any form of conversation. Two figures, the man and the woman seating closely, look like a couple and it is like they are holding hands but they are not. The waiter and the other man whose back is shown seem to be communicating, but the lack of eye contact suggests otherwise. Therefore, this painting does not provide a narrative but has a well-constructed composition. This
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Hooper realistically portrays darkness and brightness in this piece of art by using bright white colors and dark colors. Bright colors dominate the inner scene, the top of the ceiling is the brightest spot made using bright white colors that depict fluorescent lighting used in the 1940s. The fluorescent light illuminates the interior and spreads out to the street through the glass window. Bright yellow colors dominate the walls in addition to the bright green color and the bright red and bright yellow colors of the dinner table and the interior door respectively. The bright colors create a spectacular and a realistic scene inside the diner. The realistic reflections inside the diner and on the street buildings, together with the shadows and the dark colors that dominate the outside scene indicate that it is night
In Romare Bearden’s artwork At Connie’s Inn, the style of the piece is in the form of abstraction because it was a collage piece that would usually involve different types of materials pasted onto an artwork. In this collage, Bearden turned the nightclub scene into postmodern feel of unpredictable repetitions and juxtapositions of shapes and patterns in his art that created an unexpected rhythm. When I look at the collage’s composition, majority of the figures and items were unified as a whole by being clustered into different groups in order to make the scenery busier. The only people that were not smooshed into a group were the bassist, drummer, dancer, and the black figure in front of the piano which are located on the left side of the piece.
Born in 1957, artist Catherine Truemans’s piece titled Eye Calving’s (Crunchie Eye, Time Out Eye, Mint Pattie Eye, and Painted Eye) represents an image of four diverse eyes. This piece was made in 2007 as a response to anatomical illustrations of head dissections rendered in Europe in the 17th-19th centuries. The depiction of a Crunchie Eye, Time Out Eye, Mint Pattie Eye, and Painted Eye was influenced by the techniques and materials Catherine learned in Japan in 1990. The materials that were used to create this piece were acrylic, confectionary wrappers, paint, mother of pearl, and graphite carved on 100mm x 100mm Chinese Boxwood. Catherine has chosen to use nontraditional inlay materials, substituting the pure gold foils traditionally used in
Before I begin discussing about the symbolism in Night, I want to point out the importance of symbolism in any form of storytelling, and even in reality. In a way, symbolism is what makes ordinary objects or symbols into meaning. Symbolism can make anything as powerful as actual words. In that sense, symbolism creates the story being read. I believe a story can become more powerful and more touching if there is a very symbolic object or symbol involved.
“Nighthawks” is an image from 1942illustrated by Edward Hopper, which depicts three people, who seem to be customers, sitting at the counter of a small, outdoor, coffee shop. It also depicts and older man who seems to be the server behind the counter. Its night time in an urban area and all the surrounding shops are closed. The actions, background, and relationships in the image prove that the intended purpose of this image is to persuade “nighthawks” to stop by the coffee shop. One can conclude that this image was developed to publicize the new coffee shop in the area.
In the case of Jacob Lawrence, his personal style brought the African-American experience to life using contrasts between dark and vivid colors. Nonetheless, two examples of some of his most known paintings include “ The Builders, The Family” and “This is a Family Living in Harlem”. While both paintings are similar in that they both show strong family unity in the African Culture, they are different in the setting where each of the paintings are taking place. Strong family unity is present in, “ The Builders, The Family”, as it shows a nice, well dressed family walking together on their way to either church or their household.
Bullet in the Brain The title might be misleading to anyone used to action-packed short pieces of fiction. One might imagine a gunfight occurring in a crime drama were the protagonists shoot at each other and bullet ends up in one of their brains. However, he or she would be disappointed. It is the case of Anders, a book critic who will not keep quite.
No Nickels or Dimes To Spare In the book, Nickel and Dimed, Barbara Ehrenreich writes the story, “Serving in Florida.” She describes her experience living as an undercover waitress when in reality she’s a journalist for culture and politics with a doctorate in biology. Ehrenreich experiences trying to survive on multiple low income jobs to understand what it is like to be in their shoes instead of being apart of the higher middle class.
Different on the inside Though ‘The Nightmare before Christmas’ is widely credited to be directed by Tim Burton and appears to be, but actually it wasn’t. Known for his strange and eerie tales, Tim Burton stands out at Disney. Using Dr. Seuss-like childishness, along with the creepiness of Vincent Price, Burton finds several ways to give children an array of positive messages. Tim Burton uses a contrast of lighting keys, long shots and close ups in ‘Charlie in the Chocolate Factory’ and ‘Edward Scissorhands’ in order to communicate of how things aren’t always what they appear to be. High and Low lighting is used to show the variance of how things look and how they are.
The oil canvas artwork, Nighthawks, created by Edward Hopper shows four people in an old diner to the right of the artwork. The diner has the word “Phillies” written across the top, beneath the sign is where you see through the long, glass windows into the diner. There is a man sitting on the very far left of the bar, isolated from the worker and the man and woman who appear to be a couple. The lonely man is wearing a dark blue coat and a hat, but you can only see him from behind. The woman appears to have red-hair, a ruby red dress on, and red lipstick.
Edward Hopper grew up loving art and showed a great amount of talent in the field at a very young age. Seeing this his parents insisted he go to school for commercial art. He ended up studying at the New York School of Art and Design. His early works modeled that of Chase and French masters Edouard Manet and Edgar Degas. Later in his career, Hopper found his own unique style, which emphasized realism, a dark palette, and architectural paintings.
One of the best-selling authors, Barbara Ehrenreich, in her narrative essay, “Serving in Florida,” describes her personal experience working in a local restaurant called Jerry’s. Ehrenreich’s purpose is to attach importance to the low-wage America workplace. Using rhetorical strategies such as negative diction, simile, images, and pathos, Ehrenreich attempts to raise public awareness of the low-wage workers’ life in her readers. Firstly, Barbara Ehrenreich exploits connotation of words and simile to emphasize the difficult life of the lower class.
By what means, and how effectively does J.B Priestley make us consider the theme of social responsibility in his play ‘An Inspector Calls’? “An Inspector Calls” by J.B Priestley is a play about Social Responsibility and Innocence. Priestly uses various methods to explore this theme - such as characterisation, contrast and setting. The play begins with the family celebrating Sheila and Gerald’s engagement. The mood is light and fun, until Inspector walks in and informs the family that there has been a suicide of a young woman (Eva Smith), and they may be involved.
Lenny Abrahamson’s drama film Room follows Joy and her five-year-old son Jack and their experiences of living in a tiny room with only so much space. Throughout the film, both aspects of low-key lighting and high-key lighting are filmed in various scenes. These lighting styles indicate both the rough and unstable atmosphere of living in just one small room as well as the freedom of escaping the small room and starting a new chapter in their lives. In addition, both lighting styles also play an important role in the film’s plot and set the mood for the plot by either adding suspense or relief. Room narrates the story of Joy and her son Jack’s lives as they are trapped in a very small shelter that they refer to as Room.
It is evident from the background of the painting that it is a small house and does not consists of a lot. The edges of the table are weathered and there are low dark rafters on the ceiling. It is mostly a plain and boring backdrop which indicates that it is the actual residence of the five figures presented in the painting. The brown, earthy colors give a sense of a dusty room. Maybe the reasoning for this is, potatoes are dusty and dull from being buried in the dirt.