May 13, 1942: Edward Hopper's "Nighthawks" Is Sold

May 13, 1942: Edward Hopper's painting Nighthawks is sold to the Art Institute of Chicago for $3,000. It becomes one of the most famous paintings ever produced by an American.

Born in 1882 in suburban Nyack, Rockland County, New York, Hopper studied at the New York School of Art, where he developed his signature style, characterized by its emphasis on solitude, light, and shadow. By the 1920s, he had become known for his paintings, which predominantly explored themes of loneliness and isolation within American urban and rural settings.

In 1927, Hopper's painting Automat, showing a woman alone in the titular eatery -- based on his wife, Josephine, also an artist -- sold for $1,200, and can be seen as an earlier form of Nighthawks.

Jo Hopper said that she posed for the woman in Nighthawks, and Ed for the men, using a mirror. Hopper said the diner "was suggested by a restaurant on Greenwich Avenue where two streets meet." Fans have tried to pin down the location, but have come up empty, as old maps that list businesses don't seem to match up. Writing for The New York Times, Jeremiah Moss said that Hopper should be taken at his word: The painting was merely "suggested" by a real-life restaurant.

Baseball fans have occasionally seen the painting, and been confused by the name "PHILLIES" above the diner. It's not a reference to the Philadelphia baseball team: It's a reference to what was then America's most popular brand of cigar.

Like most famous paintings, it ended up getting parodied. The best-known is probably Gottfried Helnwein's 1984 Boulevard of Broken Dreams, in which the man with his back to the viewer is revealed to be James Dean, the couple is Humphrey Bogart and Marilyn Monroe, and the counterman is Elvis Presley.

Hopper died in 1967. His wife followed the next year.

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May 13, 1942 was a Wednesday. These baseball games were played that day:

* The New York Yankees lost to the Cleveland Indians, 7-2 at League Park in Cleveland. Alfred "Chubby" Dean -- no relation to Dizzy and Daffy -- outpitched Lefty Gomez. Both Yankee runs came on solo home runs by Joe DiMaggio.

* The New York Giants lost to the Pittsburgh Pirates, 3-1 at the Polo Grounds. Mel Ott went 0-for-3 with a walk, but had an RBI on a sacrifice fly.

* The Brooklyn Dodgers beat the Cincinnati Reds, 4-0 at Ebbets Field. Curt Davis pitched a 2-hit shutout.

* The Boston Braves beat the Chicago Cubs, 6-5 at Braves Field in Boston. The Braves' Jim Tobin was not only the winning pitcher, but hit 3 home runs. I have a separate entry for this event.

* The St. Louis Cardinals beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 9-1 at Shibe Park in Philadelphia. Rookie Stan Musial went 3-for-6 with an RBI.

* The Detroit Tigers beat the Washington Senators, 6-2 at Briggs Stadium (later Tiger Stadium) in Detroit.

* The Chicago White Sox beat the Boston Red Sox, 2-1 at Comiskey Park in Chicago. Myril Hoag singled Joe Kuhel home with the winning run in the bottom of the 10th inning. Ted Williams went 0-for-4 with a walk.

* And the Philadelphia Athletics beat the St. Louis Browns, 10-9 at Sportsman's Park in St. Louis.