Hans Hofmann facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Hans Hofmann
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Hans Hofmann, Effervescence, oil, India ink, casein and enamel on plywood panel, 54.375” x 35.875”, 1942.
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| Born | March 21, 1880 Weißenburg, German Empire
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| Died | February 17, 1966 (aged 85) New York City
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| Nationality | German-American |
| Known for | Painting |
| Movement | Abstract Expressionism |
Hans Hofmann (born March 21, 1880 – died February 17, 1966) was an important German-American painter. He was famous both as an artist and as a teacher. His career lasted for many years and covered two continents. Many people believe his work helped shape a style called Abstract Expressionism.
Hofmann was born and grew up near Munich, Germany. He was part of the early 20th-century European art movement known as the avant-garde. He understood and combined ideas from different art styles. These included Symbolism, Neo-impressionism, Fauvism, and Cubism. He brought these ideas with him when he moved to the United States in 1932.
Hofmann's paintings are known for their strong structure and unity. He created a feeling of space using color. He used bold colors to show feelings and ideas. A famous art critic, Clement Greenberg, thought Hofmann's first solo show in New York in 1944 was a big step forward. This show, along with one by Jackson Pollock, helped start Abstract Expressionism.
Over the next ten years, Hofmann became even more recognized. He had many exhibitions, including big shows at the Whitney Museum of American Art (1957) and the Museum of Modern Art (1963). His art is now in major museums worldwide. These include the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Tate Modern.
Hofmann is also seen as one of the most important art teachers of the 20th century. He opened an art school in Munich in 1915. This school was based on the ideas of Cézanne, the Cubists, and Kandinsky. Some art experts think it was the first modern art school ever. After moving to the U.S., he reopened his school in New York City and Provincetown, Massachusetts. He taught until 1958, when he decided to paint full-time.
His teaching greatly influenced many American artists after World War II. These artists included Helen Frankenthaler, Lee Krasner, and Louise Nevelson. Hofmann taught important ideas like his "push/pull" theory of space. He also believed that abstract art came from nature. He thought art had a special spiritual value. Hofmann passed away in New York City in 1966.
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Hans Hofmann's Life Story
Hans Hofmann was born in Weißenburg, Germany, on March 21, 1880. His parents were Theodor Friedrich Hofmann and Franziska Manger Hofmann. In 1886, his family moved to Munich. His father got a job with the government there.
From a young age, Hofmann loved science and math. At 16, he started working for the Bavarian government. He was an assistant in the Public Works department. There, he learned even more about math. He even invented and patented several devices. These included a radar for ships and a portable freezer.
Around 1900, Hofmann met Maria “Miz” Wolfegg, who would become his wife. He also met Philipp Freudenberg, a rich art collector. Freudenberg became Hofmann's supporter for the next ten years. This allowed Hofmann to move to Paris with Miz.
In Paris, Hofmann studied at art schools. He also became part of the exciting art scene. He worked with Matisse and became friends with Picasso and Georges Braque. Hofmann painted and showed his art in Paris until World War I began. His paintings were most influenced by Cubism and Cézanne.
He had to return to Germany because of the war. He couldn't join the military due to a breathing problem. In 1915, Hofmann opened an art school in Munich. He became known as a forward-thinking teacher. In 1930, he was invited to teach in the United States. This led him to move to the U.S. permanently in 1932. Hofmann and Miz lived apart for six years until she could join him in 1939.
From 1933 to 1958, Hofmann balanced painting with teaching. He became deeply involved in New York's growing art scene. He reopened his art school in 1934. He taught classes in New York and in Provincetown during the summer. In 1941, he became an American citizen. During this time, his art gained more attention from critics and museums.
In 1958, he stopped teaching to focus only on painting. This led to a burst of new work when he was 78 years old. In 1963, Miz Hofmann, his wife of over 60 years, passed away. Two years later, Hofmann married Renate Schmitz. He died in New York City on February 17, 1966, just before his 86th birthday.
Hans Hofmann's Art and Shows
Hofmann's art is known for its strong structure and unity. He created a feeling of space using "push and pull" with colors and shapes. He used bold, bright colors to express feelings. In the early 1900s, he painted in a modern style that still showed real objects. These were landscapes, still lifes, and portraits. They were influenced by Cubism, Cézanne, and Kandinsky.
He focused only on drawing for a while in the 1920s. He started painting again in 1935. By 1940, he began to paint completely abstract works. An example is Spring, a small "drip" painting. Art experts describe his early abstract works as having strong contrasts and rich colors. They show his intense experience with paint and color. These works also show his early experiments with "action painting." This style became famous later with artists like Jackson Pollock. Hofmann believed that abstract art could show important truths. He once said, "The ability to simplify means to eliminate the unnecessary, so that the necessary may speak."
In the 1940s, several important art dealers supported Hofmann's work. These included Peggy Guggenheim and Betty Parsons. His first solo show in New York in 1944 received good reviews. Critic Clement Greenberg saw this show as a breakthrough. It helped American painting move towards the more expressive style of Abstract Expressionism.
Hofmann's recognition grew steadily. From 1947, he showed his art every year at the Kootz Gallery in New York. Not all critics loved his work. Some were unsure about his "spatter-and-daub" style. But over the next ten years, he continued to gain fame.
In his later years, Hofmann often painted with less obvious brushstrokes. He created works like The Gate (1959–60) and Pompeii (1959). These are sometimes called his "slab paintings." In these works, he used rectangles of rich color. These shapes often matched the canvas, but they also had soft, irregular areas.
In 1957, the Whitney Museum held a big show of Hofmann's art. It traveled to seven other museums in the U.S. In 1960, Hofmann was chosen to represent the United States at the Venice Biennale. This is a very important international art exhibition. In 1963, the Museum of Modern Art held another large show of his work. This exhibit traveled to many places, including South America and Europe.
After his death, there were more shows of Hofmann's art. These included exhibitions at the Hirshhorn Museum (1976) and the Whitney Museum (1990). London's Tate Gallery also had a show of his "Late Paintings" in 1988.
Hofmann as a Teacher
Hofmann was famous not just as an artist but also as a teacher. He taught in Germany and later in the U.S. His strength as a teacher came from his high standards and his ability to teach the basic rules of modern abstract art. He taught many different students.
He started his first school, Schule für Bildende Kunst (School of Fine Art), in Munich in 1915. This school was based on the ideas of Cézanne, the Cubists, and Kandinsky. Hofmann's teaching style was very hands-on. He led discussions about art theory and held drawing sessions. He also gave regular critiques of his students' work. This was unusual for art schools at the time.
By the mid-1920s, he was known as a forward-thinking teacher. Students from all over the world came to him for modern art lessons. Some art historians believe his school was the first modern art school ever. Hofmann ran the school, including summer classes in different countries, until he moved to the U.S. in 1932.
In the U.S., he first taught at the University of California, Berkeley in 1930. He taught there again in 1931, and at the Chouinard Art Institute in Los Angeles. After moving to New York City, he taught at the Art Students League of New York in 1933. By 1934, Hofmann opened his own schools in New York and in Provincetown, Massachusetts.
Many famous artists studied with him. These included Lee Krasner, Helen Frankenthaler, Larry Rivers, and Louise Nevelson. In 1958, Hofmann closed his schools to focus only on his own art. In 1963, the Museum of Modern Art created a traveling exhibit called "Hans Hofmann and His Students." It showed works by 51 of his students.
Hofmann's Writings
Hofmann wrote important ideas about modern art. These writings were collected in a book called Search for the Real and Other Essays (1948). In this book, he talked about his "push/pull" theories of space in painting. He also wrote about how much he respected nature as a source for art. He believed that art had a spiritual value.
He thought that each type of art had its own way of being. He said that "color is a plastic means of creating intervals." He also knew how important the edge of a painting was. He believed in keeping the canvas flat. To show depth and movement, he said artists must create "push and pull" in the image. This meant using contrasts of color, shape, and texture.
Hofmann strongly believed in the spiritual and social value of art. In 1932, he wrote that supporting artists is important for a country. He said, "What we do for art, we do for ourselves and for our children and the future."
Art Collections and Market
Hofmann's artworks are in the permanent collections of many major museums. These include museums in the United States and around the world. Some of them are the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, and the Museum of Modern Art. His art is also in the Tate Gallery in London and the Art Gallery of Ontario in Toronto.
Hofmann also designed a public artwork. It is a colorful mural outside the High School of Graphic Communication Arts in Manhattan.
In 2015, one of Hofmann's paintings, Auxerre (1960), sold for a record price. It sold for $6,325,000 at an auction in New York. This painting was inspired by the beautiful stained glass windows of the Saint-Étienne Cathedral in France.
Hofmann's Estate
After Hans Hofmann passed away in 1966, his wife, Renate Hofmann, managed his art collection and property. After Renate's death in 1992, a trust was created. It is called The Renate, Hans and Maria Hofmann Trust. Its goal is to help people study and understand Hans Hofmann's life and art. They do this through exhibitions, books, and educational programs.
See also
- Abstract art
- Color field
- Modernism
- The Irascibles
