“Nighthawks” by Edward Hopper, 1942.Image via Wikimedia Commons. Edward Hopper’s Nighthawks via Art Institute of Chicago
Through October 6th, the Whitney will exhibit a 3D recreation of Edward Hopper’s iconic painting, Nighthawks. According to Gothamist, the installation will be unveiled at 8:15pm tonight. After investigations by Vanishing NY, it’s known that there was no definitive real location for the famous diner. Hopper himself said that the locale “was suggested by a restaurant on Greenwich Avenue where two streets meet.” Bob Egan from PopSpotsNYC also tried to tracked down the location, basing it off letters between Hopper and his wife and various interviews.
But for this year’s Hopper exhibition, “Hopper Drawing,” Whitney curator Carter Foster attempted the search yet again. It’s an amalgamation of places perhaps and New York Magazine has a great graphic showing the possible inspirations Foster came up with. It includes the signage and prowlike projections from two buildings on Greenwich Avenue, on 11th and 12th Streets. The window from a building on 12th Street, with the same signage as on a preliminary sketch. And the rounded window from the Flatiron building, where the 3D recreation will be located.
Perhaps we’re just projecting similarities onto a place we wish we could find in our cultural consciousness. Either way, we hope this 3D recreation is also open all-night, like the “original.”
