Hans Hofmann Abstract Drawings and Watercolors
German, 1897-1957
The only artist of the New York school to participate directly in European modernism, Hans Hofmann became known as the major exponent of Abstract Expressionism.
Hans Hofmann paintings are known for their manic, exuberant energy. Among 20th-century masters, he was the first to consolidate and codify the lessons of modernism into a teaching system. Hofmann was also a widely influential art instructor with schools in New York City and Provincetown, Massachusetts. He was described by New York Times critic Clement Greenberg as "the most important teacher of our time" (Peter Falk, Who Was Who in American Art). Approximately six-thousand students studied modernist art with him, among the well-known names are Helen Frankenthaler, Jane Freilicher, Wolf Kahn, Larry Rivers and Nell Blaine.
Hofmann was born in Weissenberg, Germany, showed a precocious interest in music and science, and had early training in mechanics while working for the Director of Public Works of Bavaria between 1896 and 1898. On that job, he invented the electromagnetic comptometer, the precursor of the adding machine.
Hofmann began to study art in 1898 in Munich where he was introduced to Impressionism. From 1904 to 1914, he studied in Paris and was exposed to many of the avant-garde artists and movements of that time including Fauvism, Cubism, and Surrealism. He was much taken with the exploration of pure color for its own sake, especially as investigated by Picasso, Braque, Matisse, and Delaunay. In Munich at the outbreak of World War I, he founded an art school and was highly successful until 1932 when he emigrated to America, having spent the summers in 1930 and 1931 teaching at the University of California at Berkeley. In 1932, he began teaching at the Arts Students League in New York and the following year opened his own schools in New York and Provincetown, Massachusetts.
During the 1930s and 1940s, American Scene painting was prevalent, but Hofmann resisted that style, staying with the modernism to which he had been exposed in Europe. Hence he was later credited as a courageous pioneer in America of European modern art. He closed both of his schools in 1958 so he could devote himself full time to his own painting. He died in New York City in 1966.
Hofmann said he always based his paintings on the subject of nature, and he used vivid colors such as bright blues, greens oranges and yellows and applied them with palette knives in long slashing strokes. He viewed the surface of the canvas as alive, responsive, and active, often with opposing forces which he created with his theory of "push and pull," and which is closely tied to theories of Paul Cezanne. He also experimented with dripping paint onto the canvas, a method Jackson Pollock learned and later made famous.
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(Biography provided by Fine Art San Diego)
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Artist: Hans Hofmann
Composition in Blue (mid century modern Abstract Expressionist signed/N, Unique
By Hans Hofmann
Located in New York, NY
Hans Hofmann
Composition in Blue, 1952
Color silkscreen with unique hand painted gouache additions
Hand signed and numbered 76/120 on the front in ink
(each example is a unique variant with hand painting)
Published by Esther Gentle and 167 Gallery, New York
Frame included
Dazzling mid century modern (1952) mixed media silkscreen and gouache by Hans Hofmann - one of the most influential artists of the 20th Century. The gouache additions are done by hand, making each work in this series absolutely unique. A superb impression of this extremely scarce, early print with strong colors.
According to Reba and Dave Williams (Reba and Dave Williams, American Screenprints, New York, 1987, page 32), Hofmann was persuaded to make this print by Esther Gentle (who later married Abraham Rattner), his student at the time, who was starting to publish screenprints reproducing well-known artists' paintings. Unlike other screenprints by Abstract Expressionist artists, Hofmann's is an original work which does not reproduce a painting.
An unusual feature of Composition in Blue is that the blue background varies; the artist authorized different color mixtures and strengths for each example in the printing of this particular silkscreen (Williams, page 32).
Measurements:
Work: 16⅞ by 15 inches
Framed: 24⅝ by 21¼ inches
HANS HOFMANN
(1880-1966)
Hans Hofmann (1880–1966) is one of the most important figures of postwar American art. Celebrated for his exuberant, color-filled canvases, and renowned as an influential teacher for generations of artists—first in his native Germany, then in New York and Provincetown—Hofmann played a pivotal role in the development of Abstract Expressionism.
Between 1900 and 1930, Hofmann’s early studies, decades of painting, and schools of art took him to Munich, to Paris, then back to Munich. By 1933, and for the next four decades, he lived in New York and in Provincetown. Hofmann’s evolution from foremost modern art teacher to pivotal modern artist brought him into contact with many of the foremost artists, critics, and dealers of the twentieth century: Henri Matisse, Pablo Picasso, Georges Braque, Wassily Kandinsky, Sonia and Robert Delaunay, Betty Parsons, Peggy Guggenheim, Lee Krasner, Jackson Pollock, and many others. His successful career was shepherded by the postwar modern...
Category
Mid-20th Century Abstract Expressionist Hans Hofmann Abstract Drawings and Watercolors
Materials
Ink, Gouache, Screen, Graphite
Provincetown Drawing - Pen & Ink - 1942 - Massachusetts
By Hans Hofmann
Located in Rancho Santa Fe, CA
Title: "Provincetown Drawing"
Medium: pen and ink on paper
Dimensions: 14 x 16 3/4 inches
Signed: Initialed and dated 1942
Provenance: Manny Silverman Gallery...
Category
1940s Abstract Expressionist Hans Hofmann Abstract Drawings and Watercolors
Materials
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Untitled
By Hans Hofmann
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Color crayons and ink on white wove paper. Initialed and dated "VI . 24 . 43" in ink, lower right recto, and annotated and dated in ink, verso.
This work is registered in the record...
Category
1940s Abstract Expressionist Hans Hofmann Abstract Drawings and Watercolors
Materials
Crayon, Ink
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Hans Hofmann abstract drawings and watercolors for sale on 1stDibs.
Find a wide variety of authentic Hans Hofmann abstract drawings and watercolors available for sale on 1stDibs. If you’re browsing the collection of abstract drawings and watercolors to introduce a pop of color in a neutral corner of your living room or bedroom, you can find work that includes elements of orange and other colors. You can also browse by medium to find art by Hans Hofmann in ink, crayon, gouache and more. Much of the original work by this artist or collective was created during the 20th century and is mostly associated with the abstract style. Not every interior allows for large Hans Hofmann abstract drawings and watercolors, so small editions measuring 15 inches across are available. Customers who are interested in this artist might also find the work of Ben Hancocks, Sandra Phipps MacDiarmid, and Dorothy Gillespie. Hans Hofmann abstract drawings and watercolors prices can differ depending upon medium, time period and other attributes. On 1stDibs, the price for these items starts at $10,000 and tops out at $20,000, while the average work can sell for $17,500.