July 21

July 21 is the birthdate of realist painter Edward Hopper. His works often capture solitude, loneliness, regret, boredom and resignation, using light and shadow to create mood. Hopper’s written notes indicate that his best-known painting, “Nighthawks” (1942), is a carefully planned essay in the dramatic night-time effects of manmade light. The picture is usually viewed as an evocation of loneliness and isolation, but Hopper said (in keeping with the title) that it has more to do with the possibility of predators in the night than with loneliness.