“Nighthawks,” or “Urbanism as a Way of Life”: Edward Hopper’s Paint- ing and Louis Wirth’s Idea

Abstract

The author juxtaposes the ideas contained in the classic essay “Urbanism as a Way of Life” (1938) by the Chicago sociologist Louis Wirth with the Americanism of the New York painter Edward Hopper (active approximately 1900–1967). She seeks parallels between the sociological description of urban conditions and the paintings of an artist who was called the illustrator of the American lifestyle. At the beginning, she discusses American spatial philosophy and the premises of urban researchers connected with the Chicago School. Then she compares a portion of Wirth’s essay and Hopper’s work in terms of their portrayal of the metropolitan lifestyle. She describes the sociologist’s and artist’s pessimistic visions of urbanism, in which urbanization produces the depersonalization of interpersonal relations, isolation, anomie, and the consequent loneliness of individuals.