6 museomag   04 ‘ 2017 
Creation in Form and Color: Hans Hofmann looks anew 
at the innovative master, beginning with his cutting- 
edge abstractions of the late 1930s and early 1940s and 
following the expansive range and sustained vitality of his 
long artistic career. Building upon the 2014 publication 
of the Hans Hofmann Catalogue Raisonné of Paintings 
and new scholarship conducted for this exhibition and 
catalogue, Creation in Form and Color expands our 
understanding and reinvigorates our appreciation of 
Hofmann through a presentation of his full artistic arc. 
The exhibition highlights the vibrant interconnectedness 
and continuity in his work, with both European and 
American influences, from the early twentieth century 
through the advent of Abstract Expressionism. The 
exhibition of nearly fifty paintings includes numerous 
works from BAMPFA’s extensive collection of Hofmann 
paintings, with additional loans from the Renate, 
Hans Hofmann (1880-1966), „Indian Summer“, 1959, oil on canvas / University of California, BAMPFA, Gift of the artist, 
1965 
hans hofmann, a painter 
“rescued by america” 
in the context of the exhibition “creation in form and color. hans 
hofmann”, the mnha organiZes a cycle of three lectures 
© 
2016 
Renate, 
Hans 
and 
Maria 
Hofmann 
Trust 
/ 
ARS, 
NY 
Hans and Maria Hofmann Trust, and from private and 
public collections in the United States and Europe. 
BAMPFA holds the world’s most extensive museum 
collection of Hofmann’s paintings. In 1963, the German- 
born, American artist gave the University of California 
nearly fifty paintings. The artist made this extraordinary 
gift in recognition of the University’s important role in 
his early career: UC Berkeley’s Department of Art invited 
him to teach in 1930, bringing Hofmann to America for 
the first time. Hofmann later acknowledged this life- 
changing opportunity, stating: “If I had not been rescued 
by America, I would have lost my chance as a painter.” 
In my lecture Nature into Abstraction: Hans Hofmann, 
on Saturday 7th October at 10.30 a.m. at MNHA, I will 
address Hofmann’s innovative, prolific, and highly