Hans Hofmann

This article is about the 20th-century painter. For the 16th-century painter, see Hans Hoffmann (painter). For the paleontologist, see Hans J. Hofmann.
Hans Hofmann
Hans Hofmann, Effervescence, oil, India ink, casein and enamel on plywood panel, 54.375” x 35.875”, 1942.
Born(1880-03-21)March 21, 1880
Weißenburg, German Empire
DiedFebruary 17, 1966(1966-02-17) (aged 85)
New York City
NationalityGerman-American
Known forPainting
MovementAbstract Expressionism

Hans Hofmann (March 21, 1880 – February 17, 1966) was a German-born American painter, renowned as both an artist and teacher. His career spanned two generations and two continents, and is considered to have both preceded and influenced Abstract Expressionism.[1] Born and educated near Munich, he was active in the early twentieth-century European avant-garde and brought a deep understanding and synthesis of Symbolism, Neo-impressionism, Fauvism, and Cubism when he emigrated to the United States in 1932.[2] Hofmann's painting is characterized by its rigorous concern with pictorial structure and unity, spatial illusionism, and use of bold color for expressive means.[3][4] The influential critic Clement Greenberg considered Hofmann's first New York solo show at Peggy Guggenheim’s Art of This Century in 1944 (along with Jackson Pollock’s in late 1943) as a breakthrough in painterly versus geometric abstraction that heralded abstract expressionism.[5] In the decade that followed, Hofmann's recognition grew through numerous exhibitions, notably at the Kootz Gallery, culminating in major retrospectives at the Whitney Museum of American Art (1957) and Museum of Modern Art (1963), which traveled to venues throughout the United States, South America, and Europe.[6] His works are in the permanent collections of major museums around the world, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Tate Modern, Germanisches Nationalmuseum, National Gallery of Art, and Art Institute of Chicago.[6]

Hofmann is also regarded as one of the most influential art teachers of the 20th century. He established an art school in Munich in 1915 that built on the ideas and work of Cézanne, the Cubists and Kandinsky; some art historians suggest it was the first modern school of art anywhere.[2] After relocating to the United States, he reopened the school in both New York City and Provincetown, Massachusetts until he retired from teaching in 1958 to paint full-time.[6] His presence in New York teaching had a significant influence on post-war American avant-garde artists—including Joseph Glasco,[7] Helen Frankenthaler, Nell Blaine, Lee Krasner, Joan Mitchell, Louise Nevelson, and Larry Rivers, among many—as well as on the theories of Greenberg, in his emphasis on the medium, picture plane, and unity of the work.[4] Some of Hofmann's other key tenets include his push/pull spatial theories, his insistence that abstract art has its origin in nature, and his belief in the spiritual value of art.[2][8] Hofmann died of a heart attack in New York City on February 17, 1966.

  1. ^ de la Croix, Horst and Richard G. Tansey. Gardner's Art Through the Ages, 7th Ed., New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1980, p. 857-8.
  2. ^ a b c Chipp, Herschel B. Theories of Modern Art, Berkeley & Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1968, p. 511–2.
  3. ^ Seitz, William C. Hans Hofmann, New York: Museum of Modern Art, 1963.
  4. ^ a b Harrison, Charles and Paul Wood. Art in Theory: 1900–1990, Cambridge: Blackwell Publishers, 1992, p. 354.
  5. ^ Greenberg, Clement. “After Abstract Expressionism,” Art International, Vol. VI, No. 8, October 1962.
  6. ^ a b c Hans Hofmann.org. Biographical Chronology. Hans Hofmann.org. Retrieved June 25, 2018.
  7. ^ Raeburn, Michael (2015). Joseph Glasco: The Fifteenth American (1st ed.). London: Cacklegoose Press. pp. 96, 182, 273. ISBN 9781611688542.
  8. ^ Hofmann, Hans. Search for the Real and Other Essays, eds. S. T. Weeks and B. H. Hayes, Jr., Cambridge: M.I.T. Press, Addison Gallery of American Art, 1948.