Overview
The German-born American artist Hans Hofmann (1880-1966) relocated to the United States in 1932 right before the outbreak of World War II. In the midst of wartime insecurity, he opened schools in both New York and Provincetown, immersing himself in America's growing avantgarde art scene. The works Hofmann created at the end of WWII and immediately afterward show angular abstractions and personify the uncertainties of the period. At the same time, this was also the moment that he moved toward the soft, ambiguous forms and gestures that would become the hallmark of the Abstract Expressionist movement-a movement that Hofmann presaged. Hans Hofmann: FURY presents Hofmann's work from 1942 to 1946. While demonstrating Hofmann's development towards abstraction, the paintings featured here still reveal a representational quality that nods to his figurative beginnings. Linear paintings particularly emphasize this artistic trajectory. Primarily known for his expressive use of bold, often primary colors, Hoffmann here uses a palette of vivid, bright colors, and contrasting dark tones, epitomizing the conflicted postwar feeling. Hans Hofmann: FURY gives particular insight into an essential moment in Hofmann's career-his first solo exhibition in New York in 1944 at Peggy Guggenheim's gallery, which Clement Greenberg considered ""a breakthrough in painterly versus geometric abstraction that heralded abstract expressionism.""
Full Product Details
Author: David Anfam ,
David Anfam
Publisher: Paul Holberton Publishing Ltd
Imprint: Paul Holberton Publishing Ltd
Dimensions:
Width: 23.50cm
, Height: 1.00cm
, Length: 29.80cm
Weight: 0.386kg
ISBN: 9781911300908
ISBN 10: 1911300903
Pages: 48
Publication Date: 25 February 2020
Audience:
General/trade
,
General
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active
Availability: Out of stock
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Reviews
[this] exhibition catalogue reveals an unknown aspect of the art of Hans Hofmann... Long recognized as an avatar of the American Abstract Expressionist movement, the pictures in this show detail his powerful influence on a broad range of 20th-century artists... * The Arts Fuse 06/05/2021 *
Longlisted-- Mayfair Gallery Publication Award, 2020
This slender (45-page) oversize exhibition catalogue reveals an unknown aspect of the art of Hans Hofmann, at least to this observer. Long recognized as an avatar of the American Abstract Expressionist movement, the pictures in this show detail his powerful influence on a broad range of 20th-century artists, including such august names as Lee Krasner, Jackson Pollock, Robert Motherwell, and Willem DeKooning. This volume also raises the question of whether British artists such as Francis Bacon looked admiringly at Hofmann. -- Arts Fuse Longlisted-- Mayfair Gallery Publication Award, 2020
Author Information
David Anfam is senior consulting curator at the Clyfford Still Museum in Denver, Colorado, and director of its research center. His publications include Abstract Expressionism and Mark Rothko: Works on Canvas.
