The disaffected, often desolate scenes that Hopper projects have been linked to the tradition of film noir, with its gritty urban settings, its femme fatales and the suggestion of a sinister plot in the making. Another parallel between Hopper's work and the cinema is their shared sense of voyeurism. His self-absorbed figures fail to register the presence of the viewer (or each other where more than one figure appears). They gaze at cross-purposes, out of windows, out of frame.
The fluttering curtain and glimpse of flesh under the bright lights of
Night Windows suggests an unraveling drama within, but, as ever, Hopper offers simply a moment of frozen time and leaves the viewer to embroider their own narrative.
