In a fluorescent-lit diner on a dark city street, film noir-type characters look aloof at the counter while a waiter tends to them. It’s 1942, and the scene is called "Nighthawks." This painting by artist Edward Hopper is regarded as one of the most famous American paintings. Although it depicts a fictional street corner, the artwork was inspired "by a restaurant Hopper had seen on Greenwich Avenue in New York," according to the Art Institute of Chicago, where the painting resides. The largest collection of Hopper’s works, including "A Woman in the Sun," however, can be found at the Whitney Museum. If you have your hearts set on seeing "Nighthawks," though, the Whitney and the Meatpacking District have leveled up the experience by allowing art lovers to step inside the iconic painting.
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