Nighthawks, 1942 by Edward Hopper. Nighthawks is a 1942 painting by Edward Hopper that portrays people sitting in a downtown diner late at night. It is Hopper’s most famous work and is one of the most recognizable paintings in American art.Click to see full answer. Accordingly, what is depicted in Edward Hopper’s Nighthawks?Nighthawks (painting) Accession No. Nighthawks is a 1942 oil on canvas painting by Edward Hopper that portrays people in a downtown diner late at night as viewed through the diner’s large glass window. Also portrayed are the exteriors of the urban structures across the street from the diner.Furthermore, what style of art is Nighthawks? Modernism Social realism Also asked, what is the meaning of Nighthawks? Nighthawks depicts not only the bitter alienation of living in a large city, but the paranoia that gripped the United States after the 1941 Pearl Harbor attack. Anxieties over a second attack shrouded the city like the frequent blackout drills New York and its residents were subjected to.Why did Edward Hopper paint Nighthawks?Edward Hopper said that Nighthawks was inspired by “a restaurant on New York’s Greenwich Avenue where two streets meet,” but the image—with its carefully constructed composition and lack of narrative—has a timeless, universal quality that transcends its particular locale.