13 Comments
User's avatar
Genevieve Vierling's avatar

Wow! And your skillful writing 'keeps the light on' as well. Thank you for conveying so beautifully what we all need right now.

mona's avatar

People are naturally drawn to the contrast between light and darkness.

There is someone keeping the light on in the middle of the night. That in itself is a deeply gentle story.

I believe that kind of comforting light is something everyone truly needs.

Alexander Smith's avatar

There’s something so familiar about that quiet light in the middle of an empty city — lonely, but somehow comforting at the same time. Love it!

Chandan Ghosh's avatar

I love this painting since the day when I first saw it.

jim crossin's avatar

Hi Vittorio, I have problems using chat at present, I got only part of your message by email. I have subscribed to you so you can contact me through my email address.

Thanks Jim

Nastasia's avatar

Love Hopper!

Maureen Doallas's avatar

This is so perceptive, Vittorio. You give a new meaning to a very well-known painting by giving it context of which others might be unaware. I greatly admire your writing but even more the associations to art that you make. Fine work!

Flash McEvoy's avatar

Good analysis. If you like Hopper, try Alex Colville, a Canadian artist who was a contemporary realist. I'd be interested in hearing your thoughts on some of his work

T Littlejohn's avatar

I enjoyed your article. Once a week I teach elementary children history and I begin classes with an art contemplation. There is so much we can learn about humanity both from history and art. Also, it is endlessly fascinating to see art through the eyes of children.

The symbolism of light, especially in the context of the first weeks after Pearl Harbour beautiful.

Brandon's avatar

This is one of my favorite paintings at the Art Institute of Chicago, and your essay made me see it differently. I had always been drawn to its loneliness—the empty street, the glass without a visible entrance, the hands that nearly touch—but I had not thought enough about the man behind the counter.

Zuhair's avatar

Thank you for your hard work

Myk The Kozmokat's avatar

Great essay for a great painting. Very informative. Well done!

Emma Richmond's avatar

Great article! I love the shift from reading Nighthawks as a painting about loneliness to seeing it as a painting about the small things people do against loneliness.