description "nighthawks"

1) My favourite picture is the first: nighthawks. I prefer her because it's the perfect representation of our situation because of the coronavirus. People who lives in the city are the most of the time like this and this make me thinking about my brother who is curently alone in his apartment and I hope some days that he is not sad or sick etc.. But it's also a cliche for someone. Indeed, people who lives in the countryside and have a garden have not this problem of beeing alone. So the things which make me like this picture is the fact that we can understand this paint with two points of view and we imagine, and so we have some empathie of each others and that's important at this moment of our life.

2) The main ideas is the fact that we are all in the Hooper's paint. And it's true, the biggest part of the population are alone like in the paint which we saw deserted street, lonely people in a house or an apartment.. And I agree with the sentences "If we really are all Edward Hopper paintings now, a crisis of loneliness is impending that may be one of the most fraught social consequences of Covid-19." I agree with it because it's sure that we are in a crisis, a crisis which is, in the view of the government, going to be break, so we can be calm and stay at our home and everything will be goog. But it's something which never happend and we don't now how it's going to be after the containment and the social relation will be very broken i'm sure. But for sure, it's only my opinion.

Hello ! So to reply to you I quite agree with your opinion that people are very alone during this coronavirus confinement. It could be certainly create depression for people completely isolated. However I think that for the most of the people it is not so much hard. Indeed for my part I keep contact with all my family and my friends and I think I am not the only one. It's hardest for old people because they are not all settle into technology and prefer to have contact with other people. More, without pastime the time can seems very long. So even it's hard for everybody to stay alone in his house, I think that we are quite lucky to be in the 21th Century and to have a lot of technology to divert us and to help us to keep in contact.

For my part i choose also the first painting because of the atmosphere. I found that colors and light created a certainly serenity in the loneliness. Everything is dark and cold except Phillies cafe as if it is a cocoon. There are four characters, three men and one woman. There are the clients and the barman. Both of the man clients are quite similar, same suit, same hat, same posture. However, one is in front of us, we can saw his face whereas the other is turned away from us. The barman is all in white clothes, in the middle of the bar looking at the man client in front of us. Next to this client, the only woman is sitting in a red dress which contrast with scene’s dark colors. It seems it is the evening, nobody is in the street and every shops are closed. All the people in the painting seem very lonely even if there are together in the same place. Their eyes are quite bored, lost in the empty. The woman looks her hand, the man next to her waits with his cigarette in the hand. Both of them wait alone whereas they are not alone. This painting create a certain atmosphere which is favourable to introspection and not really to communication.

According to the article, hopper’s work can be interpret with other point of you since the coronavirus pandemy. Indeed, everybody is in confinement, so alone in his house. Physics contacts are impossible because too dangerous. Every relations with other people is possible thanks to technology. Everybody calls, texts or do a facetime with his close friends or family. Of course it was already like that before the pandemy but now it is worse. We can’t do by others means.

I am quite agree with the article when it talk about the modern loneliness. It is true that the technology can cut of the “real world”. We become very dependent of the technology and more now. Personally, I use my phone or my computer every day, to work or to divert me. I am not the only one. I think a majority oh the people are dependent of technology because the modern life is built around of that. Our society is habituated and needed of this comfort. We learn to be connected every time and to never be alone. However it is this ultra connection which create a “modern loneliness”. The lack of contact and even the loss of the sociability. Nevertheless I am not totally agree with the article. Technology can bring a lot of interaction really good. We can meet virtual friends and stay in contact with a person on the other side of the world.

In the painting “ Nightawks” we can see this modern loneliness in the attitude of the characters. They are all in a meeting place but they stay all alone and keep their distances. They don’t want to leave somebody enter in their life, at least, not at this moment.

Good work, both of you! Thanks for starting this thread.
I'll add my comments / hints / help later on, when more students have commented.

Hi everyone,

I think you are both right, or at least, your opinions are understanding. However, me, as a 16 years old teenager, I really don't like this situation. I can talk with my friends and my family by many different ways, but I really don't like that feeling, when you are telling to someone that, today, you watched TV, slept, passed time on your phone, wait outside ... because you definitely did the same ! The real problem is that we have nothing to relate. In my case, I feel very bored, I don't know what to do, I want to get out of my house, go to school if necessary, but I want to see people ! I'm sure there are a lot of persons in France who have the same opinion. I never thought I would say that one day, but I want to go to school again...

Nevertheless, to be honest, I always waited that time, when we would not be able to go to school again, and forced to stay at home. So, that's interesting to have this experience at least once (not twice please), to see at what it could seems. Now, I finally know what real happiness is, and I am waiting the end of the quarantine, to profit of what I used to have, which wasn't so incredible at the time.

Personally, I have chosen the painting named "Morning sun", because it made me feel of me, when I am waiting, and think of nothing. This painting shows a woman, who is looking the city's landscape through her window. She is sit on her bed, and in front of the sun, which create a great light game : it looks like she finally sees to what real word looks like, and that the place which she used to live was represented by the shadows, which represent the sad life, confined at home. Furthermore, I took it it because it represent exactly of what Covid-19 make people doing, and its benefits, although there are not many. Indeed, people are now bored, they want to go to school again, go outside, and they don't want to stay at home anymore. Yet, many of them were dreaming of that, and now, everybody want the contrary (Ahh, french people ...).

As you already said, this article talks about the rapport between Hopper's work and coronavirus, and that his paintings represent us. And as I said before, according to me, it's right, because I recognized myself in "Morning sun". So, I agree with this article, he is just totally true. Hopper's work is great represented, and that the paintings are actually the same moments of what we are living everyday. Furthermore, it's true that we pass a lot of time on our phone, computer, and many screens like that, and we should to see more what nature can offers to us, instead of keep our eyes turned on our phones. Except that, I agree with Laura, it has its own benefits, but it would be great to release our phones, and take time to see what is around us.

I don't know if what I am saying is clear, so don't hesitate to ask me the points you didn't understand.

See you o/

Good morning,

I agree with you, because of the isolation due to the Covid-19, we have to stay at home and it's boring. Indeed, I have the feeling that there're no difference between days and we can't see our friend. Even if I think that I'm rather lucky, because I'm not alone in my hause/appartement and I have a garden so I can go out without problem. But I think at these people who are alone in their appartement without garden, it's more difficult for them... But fortunately, today we have technology, so we can speak with our friends, follow the news and so not be completely isolated from the world, and it's thanks to the techology that we can continue to study. And once again I agree with you, I want to go to school too...

Personally, my favorite paintings is "Nighthawks", I prefer this one from the 3 others because I really liked the colours and makes me feel to our situation during the isolation, with the man who is sitting far from others people. And Personally, I also see that it shows people who are lucky and are not alone in their appartement with the man and the woman who are sitting side by side while the man who is alone represent these people who are alone during the isolation.

And of course, as says the article, Hopper's painting represent our situation during the isolation but I'm not entirely agree with what it says... For example it criticises the smartphone but I think that like I said previously, it is very useful and mostly during an isolation but it's true that we have to spend less time in it. Once again I'm not entirely agree with what it says because it criticises people in modern society and says that people in cafes etc... are alone and manage to hide it with their smartphone, but I think that many people discuss in a cafes.

Great work !

You can see my comments on the other threads, too.
I like how you all relate to Hopper's paintings in ways you wouldn't have two months ago, when I planned this class. The article was written in the meantime and sheds a new light on an old series of paintings.

It makes Hopper extratemporal, the fact that we can still relate to the feelings and the power of his art.