Hopper's 'Nighthawks' Painting Chosen For 'Art Everywhere' Initiative
By Marielle Shaw in Arts & Entertainment on Jul 14, 2014 9:00PM
We’re still buzzing about the news that we get Toews and Kaner for 8 more years, but it seems Chicago has room in its heart for all types of hawks. The “Art Everywhere” initiative is a national campaign that aims to get famous pieces of art exposure outside the walls of museums and galleries. It involves five of America’s leading art museums, including our own Art Institute. The public then gets to vote for the 58 pieces they want to see on billboards, buses and subway signs in August.
There were 12 pieces chosen from the Art Institute’s collection, but the one with the most votes overall across the 100 pieces chosen for the project was Edward Hopper’s “Nighthawks at the Diner.” And even though “Nighthawks” was inspired by a diner in New York, we can see that same scene in any city— the soft glow of a place those of us with a more nocturnal leaning can go to get coffee and pancakes after last call. And while Hopper is thought to have been commenting on isolation with this piece, it also reminds us of that corner place that feels like home. Even if you’re finding "home" at 1 a.m. on a cross-country road trip. Whether you see it— a portrait of a lonely night or the incandescence of a haven for the night folk, “Nighthawks at the Diner” is a great choice, because the 1942 piece is something familiar, distinctly American and easy to relate to and we’re excited to see it displayed beyond the walls of the Institute.
The “Art Everywhere” campaign is sponsored primarily by outdoor advertising firms and pieces are set to start displaying in August. For more on the project, click here. And to visit Hopper’s “Nighthawks” yourself, take a stroll to the Art Institute.