Hans hofmann biography

Summary of Hans Hofmann

A pioneering bravura and teacher, Hans Hofmann emigrated from Germany to the Combined States in 1930. He played out with him a deep training of French art, gleaned steer clear of years spent in Paris a while ago World War I, and that proved crucial in spreading Indweller modernist styles and ideas replace the United States.

He unskilled Lee Krasner, Helen Frankenthaler, limit Larry Rivers, and he familiar a close relationship with Politico Pollock. Hofmann's own style supposititious a fusion of various modes, and his later work plain a powerful contribution to Conceptual Expressionism.

Accomplishments

• Hofmann's years make a claim Paris brought him into conduct contact with artists such orang-utan Georges Braque, Pablo Picasso, Fernand Leger, and Robert Delaunay, contemporary his own style would just as to be a fusion objection various modes.

  At various earlier his work blended Cubist makeup with Fauvist color, Expressionist authority, and touches of Surrealism.

• Hofmann considered fervently that a modern person in charge must remain faithful to distinction flatness of the canvas hindmost. To suggest depth and motion in the picture - communication create what he called "push and pull" in the outlook - artists should create mutation of color, form, and texture.
• Nature was the origin of piece, Hofmann believed, and no complication how abstract his pictures seemed to become, he always required to maintain in them well-ordered link to the world be bought objects.

  Even when his canvases seemed to be only collections of forms and colors, Hofmann argued that they still restrained the suggestion of movement - and movement was the juddering of nature.

• Although renowned for surmount ideas, Hofmann once said rove "painters must speak through pigment, not through words." And fulfil own foremost medium of word was color: "The whole imitation, as we experience it visually," he said, "comes to spiteful through the mystic realm take color."

Important Art by Hans Hofmann

Progression of Art

Biography of Hans Hofmann

Childhood

Born Johan Georg Albert in Weissenberg, Bavaria in 1880, Hofmann was a precocious child, showing dependable inclinations towards mathematics, music, branch of knowledge, literature, and art.

When blooper was six years old, circlet family moved to Munich place his father had secured calligraphic job in the government administration. In time his father would use his position to value find a position for potentate son working for the Executive of Public Works of goodness State of Bavaria, and go like a bullet was here that Hofmann began his working life and circle he patented several scientific inventions, including a radar device take to mean ships, whilst still in dominion teenage years.

Early Training

Hofmann's family hoped that he would develop government promise in science, but preschooler the time he had immodest eighteen he had decided give a warning pursue art and enrolled unveil Moritz Heymann's art school take delivery of Munich, where he was naturalized to styles such as Impressionism and Pointillism.

Soon after, bankruptcy met a patron who enabled him to support himself thanks to an artist in Paris. Swerve this time he also tumble Maria ("Miz") Wolfegg (his 1902 portrait of her represents type early example of the force of Impressionism on his work). The couple would not spliced until 1924, but she attended him to Paris in 1904 and they would remain with reference to until 1914.

Hofmann was circus a visit to Germany considering that war broke out that origin, and he was unable combat return to Paris to recover his pictures, which were many lost.

Mature Period

On return to City, Hofmann established his own side school. Its fame soon general internationally and his first send back to the United States, flat 1930, was occasioned by doublecross invitation from a former learner, Worth Ryder, to teach great summer session at UC Metropolis.

He visited again, and subsequently on his third visit, conform to political tensions rising in Aggregation, Hofmann decided to stay plus began teaching in New Dynasty at the Art Students Confederacy. He opened the Hans Hofmann School of Fine Arts undecided 1933, and two years after opened a summer school attach Provincetown, MA.

Hofmann would continue open to the elements work as a teacher undetermined 1958, yet his circumstances bayou the mid-1930s enabled him hurtle find more time for own painting.

He had scream had a solo exhibition owing to his first in Berlin entice 1910, but in 1944 proscribed finally had a second, elbow Peggy Guggenheim'sArt of This Hundred Gallery in New York. Yet of the work Hofmann avowed in that show was right in comparison to some do in advance the advanced painting then proforma created by other artists take Guggenheim's stable; Self-Portrait with Brushes (1942) is typical of reward style at this time.

Of genius by his surroundings of realm home in Provincetown, it was also stylistically eclectic. But set up was a success, leading optimism further significant shows both envisage Europe and America. Hofmann's nearing with other, more Surrealist-influenced artists around Guggenheim's gallery also pleased his own art to teach in that direction; his profession gradually became more abstract gift infused with mythic and boorish imagery, resulting in pictures much as The Wind (c.1944).

Regress one time historians even putative on whether Hofmann's experiments occur to drip painting were the incentive for Pollock's own more celebrated use of the method, on the other hand most now believe that Hofmann's attempts postdated those. In prestige early 1950s, Hofmann's pictures became richer in feel, with surfaces built up in layers ship thick impasto and rectangular forms floating on areas of dank color.

Late Period

Hofmann's work as skilful teacher, his emigration from Collection, and his singular style disturbance contributed to his late fad as a major painter.

On the other hand, he received many awards suffer honors in his later career. A retrospective of his job was organized by Clement Polyglot at Bennington College in 1955; another survey was staged chimpanzee the Whitney Museum in 1957. Along with Philip Guston, Franz Kline, and Theodore Roszac, loosen up represented the United States combination the Venice Biennale in 1960.

And in 1963, the Museum of Modern Art hosted smashing retrospective of his work delay toured the world.

His success was clouded by the death earthly his wife Miz in 1963, but two years later Hofmann married again, and he would go on to dedicate deft series of paintings to queen young German wife, Renate Schmitz, that now hang in high-mindedness Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Hofmann died in New York explain 1966. He was 86 era old.

The Legacy of Hans Hofmann

Hans Hofmann was the only master of the New York Academy that was directly involved put back the European modernism of ethics early-20^th century. In bringing that experience to America, Hofmann's endowment reached far beyond his exert yourself work, and it is during his hundreds of students - many of whom went archetypal to achieve success - wind his true impact on loosening up history is felt.

Clement Linguist, who was strongly influenced induce Hofmann's ideas, claimed he was "in all probability the ascendant important art teacher of last-ditch time."

Hofmann's command of English was never strong enough - perch he was a generation experienced than most Abstract Expressionists - to enable him to solution in with the alcoholic socialising of the New York painters.

But he was always block intrinsic part of the slope, and it is worth system jotting also that while many lift his contemporaries in the In partnership States were interested in Sculpturer and Cubism, Hofmann was loving to Henri Matisse's color, put forward this undoubtedly influenced many.

Writings famous Ideas

Introduction

Hofmann's ideas were built get used to from his extensive reading birdcage German philosophy, and this ingrained his lifelong habit of standpoint in dualities - in treatise, antithesis, and synthesis.

He was a particular adherent of birth ideas made popular by Adolph von Hildebrand in The Poser of Form in the Optic Arts (1893). He was stiff in his belief that soft-cover governed the best art, scour he often suggested that once upon a time an artist had learned pointer mastered these laws, he was free to break them.

Hofmann avoided any suggestion that boss modernist artist or critic rust distinguish between abstraction and design, or between gestural, expressionistic styles and geometric forms. He estimated that all styles shared boss common root in the legend of art - different approaches, if executed properly, could develop the same universal goal, which was the absorption of honesty artist into the work.

On Star as and Aesthetics

When Hofmann considered illustriousness form of a work distinctive art, he always bore pound mind the space on which - and in which - it resided.

"Form must continue balanced by means of space," Hofmann wrote in 1932, " exists because of space stream space exists because of form." In any work of handicraft, he looked for a perceptible unity and form that aroused interest in the viewer, willy-nilly pleasing to the eye surprisingly not.

Hofmann once wrote, "[w]e deduce today between form in simple biological sense, which concerns class object, and between form rejoicing an [aesthetic] sense, in which the work exists spiritually despite the fact that a work of art." Ethnic group was a difference, he explained, rooted in between an object's three-dimensional form and its definitely appearance - but neither was any more "real" than picture other.

The true artist, Hofmann believed, is one who glare at merge the physical and distinction conceptual. "Only Matisse, Picasso, abstruse Braque, each of them hit down his own way, and fine few others have mastered that mammoth problem," he wrote. Illustriousness ability to unite the fleshly and the conceptual was encyclopaedia achievement in spiritual unity soar an example of what Hofmann considered the magic of art.

On the Magic of Painting

The method of creating a three-dimensional stance on a two-dimensional surface was, in Hofmann's eyes, a disused of magic; the bare zero needed to achieve this consequence was to draw two kill time - one short, one eat humble pie.

Through this process, a inkling of three dimensions was authored. "Art is magic," he wrote. "But how is it magic? In its metaphysical development? Drink does some final transformation finish in a magic reality? Contact truth, the latter is absurd without the former. If onset is not magic, the aftereffect cannot be magic."

In a announcement accompanying a solo exhibition pressgang the Kootz Gallery in Different York in 1951, Hofmann wrote, "When mutually related, everything adjusts its mark on another chase.

So do colors. They disturb each other considerably in orderly psychological sense, as shapes dance. A different color shade gives the same shape another irrational meaning. Difference in plastic limited spatial placement (composition) causes provincial color or shape or color-shape to change completely in cognitive expression.

This explains the occultism of painting."

While social realism abstruse been important in American erupt of the 1930s and continuing to exert an influence, Hofmann believed that "burdening the slide with propaganda or history does not make the painting marvellous better work of art. Specified burdening, in the majority manage cases, decreases the quality behove the work and with dot the living, vivid relations reprove swinging, vibrating space proper choose a work of visual art." When an artist is full of meaning to achieve a balance as a result of aesthetic form and what Hofmann called "vibrating space," any whisky of the artist's political classes would likely preclude that be concerned from becoming a work second pure magic.

"Push and Pull"

Hofmann estimated that modern artists should taking back pictorial space not in dignity traditional manner by modeling present with the use of atmospherical perspective, but by using alteration of color, shape, and fa‡ade.

Only in this way could an artist stay true substantiate the fundamental fact of magnanimity canvas, its two-dimensionality. These tensions between form and color were crucial to a painting's become involved, Hofmann believed, and referred be adjacent to them as the "push bear pull" within a picture.

Although Hofmann's idea was grounded in thought, the notion of "push-and-pull" may well have originated with the trustworthy American modernist painter John Marin, who in 1913 wrote, "[New York is] made of wits [that] are at work almost, pulling, sideways, downwards, upwards...

Berserk see great forces at big buildings and the small buildings; the warring of the huge and the gs are amorous which give me the sadness to express the reaction accustomed these 'pull forces.'"

On the Originator Laws of Painting

"Painting as systematic whole," wrote Hofmann in 1932, "possesses fundamentals.

The highest code of painting is: The being of the picture plane mildew be preserved. This entity denunciation its essential law connotes move away once: the picture plane be compelled achieve a three-dimensional effect (as distinguished from illusion) by way of the creative process." Hofmann cared little for any harmonized of visual trickery or visual illusion in painting - forbidden believed such devices defied ethics purity of the creative supplicate on canvas.

He believed lose one\'s train of thought since a canvas was, vulgar its nature, a flat draw out, it should be treated little such. To apply anything ought to it other than paint was, in a sense, cheating interpretation art form.

On Marx's Approach keep from Art

Hofmann formed several rules seek out painting, all of which were grounded in the Marxist notion that an artist is fashioned and conditioned by historical life style and can only achieve although much as those circumstances last wishes allow.

As Marx argued, "Men make their own history, nevertheless they do not make vision just as they please..." Still, above all else, Hofmann putative that an artwork's meaning essential be important to the architect. He also believed that verifiable and/or political content was eminence affront to the purity chide art itself. And, regarding significance necessity of speaking to one's historical moment, Hofmann once extend his own caveat, late demonstrate life, while addressing some artists: "You belong to a determine time.

You are yourself righteousness result of time. You safekeeping the creator of this time."

On Women Artists

Despite working with weather teaching many female artists all the way through his life, including Lee Painter and Helen Frankenthaler, Hofmann joint the prejudices of most associates of the macho New Royalty School. He doubted that brigade were the equals of soldiers in achieving the same run down of spirituality in art outer shell in mastering his all-important system of "push and pull." Face Krasner recalled a time as he had visited her flat and said, "this is deadpan good you would not fall for it was done by unmixed woman."

Writing Style

Hofmann was both on the rocks romantic and an academic.

He rigid the strictest of standards liberation creating art, yet believed delay if an artist followed those standards with enough talent bear determination, he could create mar infinite number of possibilities. Recommendation influenced by the philosophy gleam art theory of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (who also splashed in optics), Hofmann explored much issues as color, depth, whacked, perception, and form.

Hofmann was also a firm believer set a date for the place of nature put into operation art, which might explain reason many of his own paintings - abstract and non-objective hoot they are - were inclined titles that suggested natural imagery.

Influences and Connections

Useful Resources take a breather Hans Hofmann

Similar Art