Hans Hofmann
Biography
Hans Hofmann was an American-German Abstract Expressionist painter who was also regarded as one of the most influential art educators of the 20th century.
His art is generally recognized by its rigorous concern with visual structure and unity through the “push and pull” of color, shape and placement. He typically used bold, often primary color for expressive means. These are often refered too as ‘slab’ paintings.
He opened his own art school in Munich, which operated for 15 years. He closed that school when he was invited to teach in New York where he served as a mentor to Helen Frankenthaler, Ray Eames, and Lee Krasner.
In 1963, Miz Hofmann, his partner and wife for over sixty years, passed away after a surgery. Two years later, Hofmann married Renate Schmitz, she remained with him until his death.
Today, his works are held in the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, Art Institute of Chicago, the Tate Gallery in London, the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., and the Peggy Guggenheim Collection in Venice, among others.
Born: 1880
Died: 1966
Education: Académie Colarossi, Académie de la Grande Chaumiere
Exhibitions
Select Exhibitions
2017
Hans Hofmann: The Last Decade
YARES ART GALLERY, NEW YORK 57TH STREET | NEW YORK | USA
2010
Le Grand Geste, Sammlung Museum Kunstpalast Düsseldorf, Germany
2009
1945-1949 Repartir à zéro, comme si la peinture n’avait jamais existé, Musée des Beaux-Arts de Lyon, Lyon
Peggy Guggenheim e la nuova pittura Americana, ARCA, Ex-Chiesa di San Marco, Vercelli, Italy
2008
Hans Hofmann, Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive BAM/PFA, Berkeley, CA (solo)
“Hans Hoffmann: Poems & Paintings on Paper,” Ameringer & Yohe Fine Art, New York City, NY (solo)
2007
Contemporary, Cool and Collected, Mint Museum of Art, Charlotte, NC
“Everything,” Dunn and Brown Contemporary, Dallas, TX
“Options with Realism,” Jason McCoy Gallery, New York, NY
2006
Hans Hofmann, American Contemporary Art Gallery, Munich (solo)
“Hans Hofmann,” Ameringer & Yohe Fine Art, New York City, NY (solo)
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – Fifty Years of American Art, Grimaldi Forum Monaco, with Otto Hübner as curator for the Abstract Expressionism
Ecole de New York, MAMAC Nice, France
2005
Hans Hofmann, Ameringer & Yohe Fine Art, New York City, NY (solo)
Action Painting-Arte Americana 1940-1970, Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Modena, Modena, Peggy Guggenheim Collection Venedig in cooperation with american contemporary art GALLERY
2004
Hans Hofmann, American Contemporary Art Gallery, Munich (solo)
“Hans Hofmann: Selections from the Berkeley Art Museum Collection” Des Moines Art Center, Des Moines, IA (solo)
“Hans Hofmann: Scintillating Spaces,” Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive BAM/PFA, Berkeley, CA (solo)
2003
Hans Hofmann, Hackett Freedman Gallery, San Francisco, CA (solo)
2002
Hans Hofmann, American Contemporary Art Gallery, Munich (solo)
“Hans Hofmann,” Hackett Freedman Gallery, San Francisco, CA (solo)
2001
Hans Hofmann: Real/Life, Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive BAM/PFA, Berkeley, CA (solo)
2000
Hans Hoffman, American Contemporary Art Gallery, Munich (solo)
Conrad Marca-Relli, Institut Mathildenhöhe, Darmstadt, Germany
1999
The American Years Retrospective, Residenz Galerie Salzburg,” Salzburg, Austria (solo)
1997
Hans Hofmann: Wunder des Rhythmus, Städtische Galerie im Lenbachhaus, Munich, Germany, traveling to the Schirn Kunsthalle Frankfurt
1994
New York-Provincetown: A 50s Connection, Provincetown Art Association and Museum, Provincetown, MA
1988–1991
Andre Emmerich Gallery, New York, NY (solo)
1990
Hons Hofmann, The Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY (solo)
1988
Tate Gallery, London (solo)
1987
University of Califnonia, Berkeley, CA (solo)
1982–1986
Andre Emmerich Gallery, New York, NY (solo)
1984
American Masters, Vatican Museums and International Exhibitons Foundation, Rome, Italy
1980
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY (solo)
Provincetown Art Association, Provincetown, MA (solo)
1972–1980
Andre Emmerich Gallery, New York, NY (solo)
1979
Hans Hofmann as a Teacher, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY (solo)
1974
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY (solo)
1973
Hans Hofmann: 52 Works on Paper, The Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. (solo)
1972
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY (solo)
1967–1969
Andre Emmerich Gallery, New York, NY (solo)
1966
Two Decades of American Painting, National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo, Japan
The Kootz Gallery, New York, NY (solo)
1963–1965
Hans Hofmann, traveling exhibition in 12 museums in the USA and in Europe
1964
Guggenheim International Award, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, USA
1960–1964
The Kootz Gallery, New York, NY (solo)
1963
Santa Barbara Museum of Art, Santa Barbara, CA (solo)
1960
Stati Uniti d‘America – Quattro Artisti Americani: Guston, Hofmann, Kline, Roszak, XXXVenice Biennale Venice, Italy
1960
Neue Malerei: Form, Struktur, Bedeutung, Städtische Galerie, Munich, Germany
1958
The Kootz Gallery, New York, NY (solo)
1957
The Kootz Gallery, New York, NY (solo)
The Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY (retrospective)
1956
The Embellished Surface, The Museum of Modern Art, New York, USA
The Art Alliance, Philadelphia, PA (solo)
1950–1955
The Kootz Gallery, New York, NY (solo)
1954
Boris Mirski Gallery, Boston, MA (solo)
Baltimore Museum of Art, Baltimore, MD (solo)
1951
“Abstract Painting and Sculpture in America” The Museum of Modern Art, NYC
1950
Annual Exhibition of Contemporary American Painting, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, USA
1949
The Kootz Gallery, New York, NY (solo)
“Hofmann in Paris,” Gallerie Maeght, Paris, France (solo)
1947
Betty Parsons Gallery, New York, NY (solo)
The Kootz Gallery, New York, NY (solo)
1946
Betty Parsons Gallery, New York, NY (solo)
1944
First Exhibition: Hans Hofmann, Art of this Century Gallery, New York, NY (solo)
Arts Club of Chicago, Chicago, IL (solo)
1910
Paul Cassirer Gallery, Berlin, Germany (first solo exhibition)