This is the most famous piece by Edward Hopper, an American painter known for his works representing the mood of solitude and alienation of individuals in American society

Four people are depicted inside a diner late at night. But there is no food on the countertop, and the couple in the middle are not talking with each other. Under an eerie lighting, the characters look emotionless (fluorescent light tubes were just starting to become widely adopted in the 1940s in the US)

Above the big glass façade is an advertisement panel showing a “Philies”-branded cigar, and a slogan of “Only 5¢”. The absence of any door at the restaurant gives the impression that the characters are placed inside a cage or an aquarium

The shops across an empty street are in darkness as it is very late (diners are often open 24 hours a day) or because of World War II: This work was painted not long after the US entered the war, and New York City was under curfew at the time for fear of Nazi air-raids

Hopper had spent time in Paris and was influenced by the Impressionist movement, which might have led him to paint the scenes of his own surroundings but in a manner not entirely realistic. The artist said that Nighthawks “was suggested by a restaurant on Greenwich Avenue where two streets meet" and that he "simplified the scene a great deal and made the restaurant bigger"

This painting was completed in early 1942 and acquired a few months afterward by the Art Institute of Chicago for US$3,000 (equivalent to $47,520 in 2020)