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Hans Hofmann, 1880-1966
Hans Hofmann was one of the twentieth century's most influential art teachers and a key figure in the development of abstraction in American art. Early in his career, Hofmann associated with avant-garde artists in Paris and later operated a modernist art school in Munich. After relocating to New York City, he taught briefly at the Art Students' League and in 1934 established the Hans Hofmann School of Fine Arts in Midtown Manhattan.
Through his detailed critiques of individual works, Hofmann pushed students to strive for greater technical rigor, but he allowed them free rein to pursue individual expression and experimentation. "There were so many different approaches to painting and drawing going on side by side and you had the feeling anything was possible," Abstract Expressionist Michael Goldberg later recalled. This photograph shows Hofmann conducting a group critique at the summer art school he opened in Provincetown, Massachusetts, in 1935.
Bill Witt, 1948 |