Bidspirit auction | Hans Hofmann Expressionist Landscape Painting

Hans Hofmann Expressionist Landscape Painting - Hans Hofmann (German/American, 1880-1966). Oil on masonite abstract expressionist landscape painting, 1936. Depicting a vibrant red hill adorned with gestural, abstracted architecture. Sweeping up the left side, a peach and tan pathway guides the viewer's eye toward a warm, brown-toned home. Below, layered washes of golden-yellow and thick, dynamic green brushstrokes form a richly textured ground that bursts with life in the warm sunshine. Signed and dated along the lower right. With an Estate of Hans Hofmann stamp along the verso; also with an Andre Emmerich Gallery Inc. stamp along the verso. With a William H. Land Foundation label adhered along the verso listing artist, title, date, and medium. Provenance: Flanders Contemporary Art, Minneapolis, MN, February 16, 1988; The Distinguished Collection of Leo & Doris Hodroff. Lot Essay: Hans Hofmann was one of the most influential figures in postwar American art, celebrated for his vibrant, color-filled canvases and recognized as one of the twentieth century's most progressive and impactful art educators. Born on March 21, 1880, in Weissenberg, Germany, Hofmann studied art in Munich, where he met his wife, Maria Wolfegg. With financial support from Philipp Freudenberg, owner of Berlin's prestigious Kaufhaus Gerson department store, the couple relocated to Paris. There, Hofmann immersed himself in the city's avant-garde circles, working alongside Henri Matisse and forming friendships with Pablo Picasso, Georges Braque, and Robert and Sonia Delaunay. During his years in Paris, he exhibited work deeply informed by Cubism and the innovations of Paul Cezanne until the outbreak of World War I forced his return to Germany. Unable to serve in the military because of a respiratory condition, Hofmann founded an art school in Munich in 1915, quickly earning a reputation as a visionary teacher. In 1933, he immigrated to the United States, where he became a central figure in New York's emerging avant-garde community. The following year, he reopened his art school, teaching in New York during the academic year and Provincetown, Massachusetts, each summer. His dynamic teaching methods and emphasis on modern artistic principles profoundly influenced a generation of artists and played a pivotal role in the development of Abstract Expressionism. Although already sixty-four when he held his first solo exhibition at Art of This Century in New York in 1944, Hofmann continued balancing teaching with painting until closing his school in 1956. Free to devote himself entirely to his own work during the height of Abstract Expressionism, he developed the artistic philosophy he termed ”push and pull, ” describing the dynamic relationships between color, form, and space. Drawing on Matisse's expressive use of color and Cubism's spatial innovations, Hofmann created a remarkable body of work that evolved from the expressive landscapes of the 1930s to the iconic ”slab” paintings of the late 1950s and the bold abstractions of his final years. Unframed; height: 25 in x width: 30 in. Framed; height: 32 1/2 in x width: 37 1/2 in x depth: 2 1/2 in. Condition: The painting is in good condition overall. There is a small area of paint loss along the upper right in the sky. There is light retouching along the sky in the upper right measuring approximately 1/2” x 1 1/2” with some additional small spots to the right. There is some soiling along the verso and the frame has wear.