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
