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HANS HOFMANN
HANS HOFMANN
HANS HOFMANN
Obliquité, 1947, Oil on canvas, 30 1/2 x 41 inches, 77.5 x 104.1 cm, MMG#1806

Obliquité, 1947, Oil on canvas, 30 1/2 x 41 inches, 77.5 x 104.1 cm, MMG#1806

Light House, 1936 Casein on panel, 20 x 23 inches, 50.8 x 58.4 cm, MMG#1443

Light House, 1936 Casein on panel, 20 x 23 inches, 50.8 x 58.4 cm, MMG#1443

[Landscape], 1941 (c.), Oil on panel, 24 x 30 inches, 61 x 76.2 cm, MMG#9384

[Landscape], 1941 (c.), Oil on panel, 24 x 30 inches, 61 x 76.2 cm, MMG#9384

[Untitled] Landscape No. 11 [per HH cat. no.], 1942, Oil on panel, 30 x 35 1/8 inches, 76.2 x 89.2 cm, MMG#9787

[Untitled] Landscape No. 11 [per HH cat. no.], 1942, Oil on panel, 30 x 35 1/8 inches, 76.2 x 89.2 cm, MMG#9787

[Untitled] Landscape No. 49 [per HH cat. no.], 1942, Oil on panel, 35 x 30 inches, MMG#1374

[Untitled] Landscape No. 49 [per HH cat. no.], 1942, Oil on panel, 35 x 30 inches, MMG#1374

Fury No. 1, 1945, Oil on panel, 55 1/2 x 44 inches, 141 x 111.8 cm, MMG#1833

Fury No. 1, 1945, Oil on panel, 55 1/2 x 44 inches, 141 x 111.8 cm, MMG#1833

Mysterious Approach II, 1945 Oil on panel, 26 1/2 x 30 inches, 67.3 x 76.2 cm, MMG#1935

Mysterious Approach II, 1945 Oil on panel, 26 1/2 x 30 inches, 67.3 x 76.2 cm, MMG#1935

Alchemy, 1946, Oil on panel, 35 x 30 inches, 88.9 x 76.2 cm, MMG#11127

Alchemy, 1946, Oil on panel, 35 x 30 inches, 88.9 x 76.2 cm, MMG#11127

The Conjuror (Small Version), 1946 Oil on panel, 25 x 30 inches, 63.5 x 76.2 cm, MMG#11344

The Conjuror (Small Version), 1946 Oil on panel, 25 x 30 inches, 63.5 x 76.2 cm, MMG#11344

The Virgin, 1946, Oil on board, 41 1/4 x 30 1/2 inches, 104.8 x 77.5 cm, MMG#12444

The Virgin, 1946, Oil on board, 41 1/4 x 30 1/2 inches, 104.8 x 77.5 cm, MMG#12444

Black Form, 1946, Oil on board, 44 1/4 x 28 1/2 inches 112.4 x 72.4 cm, MMG#1404

Black Form, 1946, Oil on board, 44 1/4 x 28 1/2 inches 112.4 x 72.4 cm, MMG#1404

La Révision, 1946, Oil on panel, 41 1/2 x 32 1/2 inches, 105.4 x 82.6 cm, MMG#1477

La Révision, 1946, Oil on panel, 41 1/2 x 32 1/2 inches, 105.4 x 82.6 cm, MMG#1477

The Blande Interior, (Interior with Table), 1949, Oil on canvas, 60 x 42 inches, 152.4 x 106.7 cm, MMG#14137

The Blande Interior, (Interior with Table), 1949, Oil on canvas, 60 x 42 inches, 152.4 x 106.7 cm, MMG#14137

Blue Bottle, Red Round Table [Untitled (Blue Bottle - Red Round Table)], 1947 Oil on canvas, 48 1/2 x 60 inches, 123.2 x 152.4 cm, MMG#29835

Blue Bottle, Red Round Table [Untitled (Blue Bottle - Red Round Table)], 1947 Oil on canvas, 48 1/2 x 60 inches, 123.2 x 152.4 cm, MMG#29835

Yellow Volume, 1947, Oil on panel, 30 x 35 inches, 76.2 x 88.9 cm, (MMG#11281

Yellow Volume, 1947, Oil on panel, 30 x 35 inches, 76.2 x 88.9 cm, (MMG#11281

Composition No. 5, 1950 Oil on canvas, 36 1/8 x 48 1/8 inches, 91.8 x 122.2 cm, MMG#3946

Composition No. 5, 1950 Oil on canvas, 36 1/8 x 48 1/8 inches, 91.8 x 122.2 cm, MMG#3946

The Pumpkin, 1950, Oil on canvas, 36 x 48 inches, 91.4 x 121.9 cm, MMG#2781

The Pumpkin, 1950, Oil on canvas, 36 x 48 inches, 91.4 x 121.9 cm, MMG#2781

Perpetuita, 1951, Oil on canvas, 72 x 60 inches, 182.9 x 152.4 cm, MMG#1724

Perpetuita, 1951, Oil on canvas, 72 x 60 inches, 182.9 x 152.4 cm, MMG#1724

White Expansion, 1954 Oil on canvas, 48 x 74 inches, 121.9 x 188 cm,  MMG#11276

White Expansion, 1954 Oil on canvas, 48 x 74 inches, 121.9 x 188 cm,  MMG#11276

Blue Arcata, 1955, Oil on pencil on canvas, 52 x 60 inches, 132.1 x 152.4 cm, MMG#14141

Blue Arcata, 1955, Oil on pencil on canvas, 52 x 60 inches, 132.1 x 152.4 cm, MMG#14141

Capriccio, 1955, Oil on canvas, 48 x 60 inches, 121.9 x 152.4 cm, MMG#3629

Capriccio, 1955, Oil on canvas, 48 x 60 inches, 121.9 x 152.4 cm, MMG#3629

Snow White, 1960, Oil on linen, 84 x 52 inches, 213.4 x 132.1 cm, MMG#3621

Snow White, 1960, Oil on linen, 84 x 52 inches, 213.4 x 132.1 cm, MMG#3621

The Climb, 1960, Oil on board, 84 x 48 inches, 213.36 x 121.92 cm, MMG#2437

The Climb, 1960, Oil on board, 84 x 48 inches, 213.36 x 121.92 cm, MMG#2437

Blue Mirage, 1961, Oil on canvas, 60 x 52 inches, 152.4 x 132 cm, MMG#2440

Blue Mirage, 1961, Oil on canvas, 60 x 52 inches, 152.4 x 132 cm, MMG#2440

Grief, 1961, Oil on canvas, 72 x 60 inches, 182.9 x 152.4 cm, MMG#1197

Grief, 1961, Oil on canvas, 72 x 60 inches, 182.9 x 152.4 cm, MMG#1197

The Old and the Becoming, 1961 Oil on canvas, 40 x 50 inches, 101.6 x 127 cm, MMG#3143

The Old and the Becoming, 1961 Oil on canvas, 40 x 50 inches, 101.6 x 127 cm, MMG#3143

Serenada, 1961, Oil on canvas, 38 x 30 inches, 96.5 x 76.2 cm, MMG#9809

Serenada, 1961, Oil on canvas, 38 x 30 inches, 96.5 x 76.2 cm, MMG#9809

Mirage, 1962, Oil on canvas, 60 x 52 inches, 152.4 x 132.1 cm, (MMG#11277

Mirage, 1962, Oil on canvas, 60 x 52 inches, 152.4 x 132.1 cm, (MMG#11277

Caprizio, 1962, Oil on canvas, 50 x 40 inches, 127 x 101.6 cm, MMG#1137

Caprizio, 1962, Oil on canvas, 50 x 40 inches, 127 x 101.6 cm, MMG#1137

[Untitled], c. 1960 - 1965 Oil on board, 32 x 24 inches, 81 x 61 cm, MMG#1389

[Untitled], c. 1960 - 1965 Oil on board, 32 x 24 inches, 81 x 61 cm, MMG#1389

Press Release

NEW YORK, NEW YORK – MILES MCENERY GALLERY is pleased to present an exhibition of works by Hans Hofmann, on view 3 January through 2 February at 520 West 21st Street. The exhibition is accompanied by a fully illustrated catalogue.

HANS HOFMANN was born in Weissenburg in Bavaria, Germany in 1880. He began his education in art in Munich and later moved to Paris in 1904. While in Paris, Hofmann frequented the Café du Dome where he met the many artists, dealers, and intellectuals who gathered there. It was also during this time that Hofmann took drawing classes at the Académie de la Grande Chaumière and the Académie Colarossi, and was introduced to Matisse, Picasso, and Braque. While on a visit home to Germany in 1914, the outbreak of World War I prevented Hofmann from returning to Paris, so in 1915 he opened his own art school in Munich, which quickly garnered an international reputation of excellence. In 1930, Hofmann traveled to the United States, and from 1930 to 1932 he was invited to teach at the University of California, Berkeley, and at the Chouinard School of Art in Los Angeles.

In 1932, Hofmann moved to New York. He taught a drawing class at the Art Students League and in 1934—shortly after closing his school in Munich—he opened the Hans Hofmann School of Fine Arts in New York. In 1935, Hofmann’s School additionally began to hold summer classes in Provincetown, Massachusetts. Hofmann became well known not only as an important artist of the time but also as an admired teacher—Helen Frankenthaler, Allan Kaprow, Lee Krasner, Louise Nevelson, Joan Mitchell, and Wolf Kahn were amongst his students. 1944 was a signi cant year for Hofmann as he was featured in four group exhibitions and notably had his rst solo exhibition in New York at Peggy Guggenheim’s renowned Art of This Century Gallery.

Although considered one of the leading Abstract Expressionist artists in New York during the period, unlike his American counterparts, Hofmann had spent his formative years in Paris, taking in elements of Cubism and Fauvism directly from the sources of European Modernism. Hofmann’s paintings are celebrated for their utilization of color relationships to create spatial effect as well as their compositional structure and theories of “push/pull,” which have had a lasting impact on modern artists.

Hans Hofmann never shied away from challenge and instead embraced it head-on, a trait that gives his paintings an air of life and enthusiasm that is palpable even over half a century after the artist’s death. When describing his process Hofmann said, “I do not want to avoid immersing myself in trouble–to be in a mess–to struggle out of it. I want to invent, to discover, to imagine, to speculate, to improvise–to seize the hazardous in order to be inspired. I want to experience the manifestation of the absolute–the manifestation of the unexpected in an extreme and unique relation. I know that only by following my creative instincts–in an act of creative destruction–will I be able to nd it.”

During his lifetime, Hofmann’s work was the subject of exhibitions at the California Palace of the Legion of Honor in San Francisco (1931); the Art of This Century Gallery, New York, NY (1944); the Addison Gallery of American Art, Andover, Massachusetts (1948); Whitney Museum of American Art (1957); the XXX Venice Biennale (1960); and The Museum of Modern Art (1963).

Hofmann’s work is in many permanent collections including The Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY; The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY; National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.; Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, NY; Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY; Musée de Grenoble, Grenoble, France; National Gallery of Australia, Canberra, Australia; Museum Ludwig, Cologne, Germany; Tel Aviv Museum of Art, Tel Aviv, Israel; and the Städtische Galerie im Lenbachhaus, Munich, Germany.

Hofmann died in 1966 in New York at the age of 85.

www.hanshofmann.org

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