Hans Hofmann American, 1880-1966

Overview

A pioneering artist and teacher, Hans Hofmann 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. The list of those who studied with Hofmann is long - numbering to mention only a few are Helen Frankenthaler, Lee Krasner, Georgio Cavallon, Carl Holty, Nicolas Carone, Joan Mitchell, Michael Goldberg, John Grillo, Larry Rivers, Lynn Mapp Drexler, Louisa Matthiasdottir, Robert Goodnough, Wolf Kahn, Stephen Pace, Louise Nevelson, Frank Stella, and Mercedes Matter. Hofmann's works are distinguished by a concern with pictorial structure, spatial illusion, and color relations. His main interest with pictorial phenomena- the illusion of three-dimensional space, composition, and the optical effects of color- best describes his works. He once famously explained:

 

"It is not the form that dictates color, but the color that brings out the form."

Museums and Public Collections

Ackland Art Museum, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Addison Gallery of American Art, Phillips Academy, Andover, MA

Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, NY

Allen Memorial Art Museum, Oberlin College, OH

Art Gallery of Hamilton, Ontario, Canada

Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, Canada

The Art Institute of Chicago

Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, New Zealand

Baltimore Museum of Art, MD

 

Bennington College, VT

Birmingham Museum of Art, AL

Blanden Memorial Art Museum, Fort Dodge, IA

Blanton Museum of Art, The University of Texas at Austin

Bridgestone Museum of Art, Ishibashi Foundation, Tokyo

Brigham Young University Museum of Art, Provo, UT

Brooklyn Museum, NY

Cape Cod Museum of Art, Dennis, MA

Chazen Museum of Art, University of Wisconsin, Madison

Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, VA

Cincinnati Art Museum, OH

The Cleveland Museum of Art, OH

Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, DC

Crocker Art Museum, Sacramento, CA

Currier Museum of Art, Manchester, NH

Dallas Museum of Art

Davis Museum and Cultural Center, Wellesley College, MA

The Dayton Art Institute, OH

Delaware Art Museum, Wilmington

Denver Art Museum, CO

Detroit Institute of Arts, MI

The Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center, Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, NY

Frederick R. Weisman Art Foundation, Los Angeles

Germanisches Nationalmuseum, Nuremberg, Germany

Greenville County Museum of Art, SC

Grey Art Gallery and Study Center, New York University

Harvard Art Museums/Fogg Museum, Cambridge, MA

Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY

Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC

Honolulu Museum of Art, HI

Hunter Museum of American Art, Chattanooga, TN

Indianapolis Museum of Art, IN

The Israel Museum, Jerusalem

IVAM, Institut Valencià d'Art Modern, Generalitat, Spain

Joslyn Art Museum, Omaha, NE

Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, Kansas City, MO

Krannert Art Museum, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign

The Kreeger Museum, Washington, DC

Los Angeles County Museum of Art

Lowe Art Museum, University of Miami, Coral Gables, FL

MacKenzie Art Gallery, Regina, Canada

Mead Art Museum, Amherst College, MA

Memorial Art Gallery, University of Rochester, NY

The Menil Collection, Houston

The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

Miami University Art Museum, Oxford, OH

Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum, Washington University in Saint Louis, MO

Milwaukee Art Museum, WI

Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, TX

The Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, Canada

Muscarelle Museum of Art at the College of William and Mary, Williamsburg, VA

Musée de Grenoble, France

Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid

Museum Ludwig, Cologne, Germany

Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston

The Museum of Modern Art, New York

Museum Würth, Künzelsau, Germany

National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC

National Gallery of Australia, Canberra

Neuberger Museum of Art, Purchase College, State University of New York

New Orleans Museum of Art, LA

Newark Museum, NJ

Norton Museum of Art, West Palm Beach, FL

Oklahoma City Museum of Art, OK

Palm Springs Art Museum, CA

Philadelphia Museum of Art

Provincetown Art Association and Museum, MA

Reiss-Engelhorn-Museen, Mannheim, Germany

The Robert McLaughlin Gallery, Oshawa, Canada

The Rose Art Museum, Brandeis University, Waltham, MA

Saint Louis Art Museum, MO

San Antonio Museum of Art, TX

The San Diego Museum of Art, CA

San Francisco Museum of Modern Art

Santa Barbara Museum of Art, CA

Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, Edinburgh

Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art, AZ

Seattle Art Museum, WA

Sheldon Museum of Art, University of Nebraska, Lincoln

Smith College Museum of Art, Northampton, MA

Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, DC

The Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, Venice, Italy

Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York

Speed Art Museum, Louisville, KY

Städel Museum, Frankfurt am Main, Germany

Städtische Galerie im Lenbachhaus, Munich

Tate Modern, London

Toledo Museum of Art, OH

University of California, Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive

The University of Iowa Museum of Art, Iowa City

University of Michigan Museum of Art, Ann Arbor

Von der Heydt-Museum, Wuppertal, Germany

Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, MN

Whitney Museum of American Art, New York

Williams College Museum of Art, Williamstown, MA

Worcester Art Museum, MA

Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, CT

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