Today in Seminar we looked at two paintings: ‘Mona Lisa’ by Leonardo da Vinci, and ‘Nighthawks’ by Edward Hopper. I was familiar with the former (who isn’t?), but the latter was new to me. Through careful analysis I was excited to hear and see  the different ways the artwork could be interpreted.

When I first looked at ‘Nighthawks’ I saw a strange scene. I felt that it was odd that there would be three characters sitting at a diner in the middle of the night when there doesn’t appear to be a soul on the streets outside. Viewing this painting with a 21st century schema I saw something sinister in this scene.  The way the men at the bar blend in with the darkness from the streets in contrast with the harsh bright lights from the shop make me think that the contrast of light and dark represents a contrast between good and evil. Almost as if the shop is the only beam of light on the dark streets and that by entering the shop the men are bringing the darkness into this sanctuary of light. I felt that the men at the bar and the woman in red were sinister characters who had an air of mystery and danger about them that is contrasting with the light and innocence of the man dressed in white behind the counter. I also felt that the light acts as a spotlight exposing the people inside the shop. In this sense there is a symbolism in the way that it hits the woman in a more direct manner than her male companions. Perhaps if the characters are trouble makers, her role in the scene is more frowned upon than her male counterparts. In this sense the light acts in a judgmental way, frowning down on the woman who has perhaps strayed from the path of goodness to be with the men of darkness. The tile ‘Nighthawks’ also added to my negative interpretation of the painting.  I know of the expression, ‘night owl’, but when I think of hawks I think of predators, dangerous creatures which prey on smaller animals.

Despite this initial impression of ‘Nighthawks’ I began seeing it in a different light, no pun intended, when one of my classmates pointed out that the woman is holding hands with one of the men at the bar.  If I were to follow my initial impression of the scene the two would appear as a Bonnie & Clyde, lovers and partners in crime, mistresses of the darkness.  However, I don’t agree with this interpretation.  I feel that the holding of hands, adds a softness that I missed at first glance. They aren’t kissing or sitting on top of each other, there isn’t any overtly sexual tension between the two. The simple act of holding hands seems so simple and innocent that it is indicative of the time period which the painting depicts.  Perhaps the men aren’t forces of darkness entering the diner, threatening the light of the institution. Perhaps they are just sitting at a bar late at night talking about their days.

At this point in my analysis I began to confuse myself, about what I really saw the painting as. My classmates and professor pointed out the historical aspects of the painting. Painted in 1942, ‘Nighthawks’ depicts American life at the peak of WWII.  Everything from the clothing of the characters to the setting the empty streets outside the shop show Edward Hopper’s view of American life at home during WWII.

After mulling this issue over in my head for a few hours, I’ve decided that my initial interpretation was correct…but not in the manner which I had originally proposed. I feel that considering the time period of the painting that the characters do bring a darkness into the diner which was not there before. However, I do not believe that they have brought this darkness intentionally, or with sinister motives. Instead I believe that the war, and the darkness that wars bring has touched them and that they are burdened by the darkness of war when they enter the diner. They have entered this diner as a Fortress of Solitude. They are searching for the innocence that they lost, whether by the onset of WWII or the reality of growing up. This interpretation makes me sad, because even though the characters seem to be searching for the light, they are covered in darkness and seem out of place in the brightly lit diner.  This interpretation also paints the female figure in a better light than my first interpretation.  At first the light was judging her because of her exposure to the light, but now it represents her ability to blend with the light even though she is a child of the darkness. The men are covered in shadows, even as they sit in the brightly lit shop, but the woman picks up some of the light.  This is perhaps  a commentary that the male figures are more heavily burdened by life than the woman.

When we analyzed the ‘Mona Lisa’ I had a more difficult time analyzing it than I did ‘Nighthawks’, because I’ve seen it my entire life and I have heard so many different interpretations of it, that was is difficult for me to see it with a blank mind. The one new idea that did appear to me about the painting today was the idea that the background might correlate with the parts of Mona Lisa’s body that they line up with. The water in the image begins at her neck and continues to her eyes.  The point at which the water disappears into the distance is in perfect alinement with her eyes, which for many observers, is the most compelling feature of the piece. I feel that in this manner the painting is broken up into three sections running horizontally across the painting. The sections are: earth, water, and air. Her body falls into the earth section. From her neck to her eyes is the water section, and the top of her head and hair is the air section. Symbolically I feel that this represents that her body is grounded, but that her mind is free flowing and imaginative, and that she has the ability to rise above the average individual, either in class, or character.

Aside from my interpretation of the painting itself, through my personal analysis of the ‘Mona Lisa’ I became more interested in the interpretations of artists such as Nat King Cole, and The All American Rejects of the same painting. Nat King Cole’s song, ‘Mona Lisa’ discusses his various interpretations of Mona Lisa’s smile, while The All American Rejects wrote a song entitled ‘Mona Lisa (When the World Comes Down)’ which names Mona Lisa as the person they want next to themselves when the ‘world comes down’, because she seems to know something that others can’t understand.

Regardless of my personal interpretations of the ‘Mona Lisa’ and ‘Nighthawks’ I look forward to seeing and hearing the various interpretations of these pieces. Each person brings their own personal schema to the art which sheds new light on the classic pieces.

~Naomi Edwards