Edward Hopper and Loneliness

Much of Hoppers work depicts loneliness.

The emptiness of the restaurant in the piece "Automat" demonstrates the woman's isolation.

I think the setting of an automat, a place where food and drink is served through vending machines, eliminating the need for human interaction, speaks to the atomization in the west, namely the USA, which becomes even more evident in the modern day.

Speaking on "Nighthawks", Hopper recollects

"Unconsciously, probably, I was painting the loneliness of a large city."

The wide angle and eerie stillness of the piece speak to the alienation of urban life. The light in the diner contrasted with the darkness outside further this feeling. The warmth inside coupled with the Pair sitting side by side to the right of the painting may symbolize human connection, again at odds with the impersonal city and the man to the left, shrouded in darkness, who seems to have fallen victim to the disconnection of society.