AFA Winter 2019

Antiques & Fine Art 81 2019 Hans Hofmann (1880–1966), Still Life, 1936. Oil on plywood, 13¾ x 175⁄16 in Williams College Museum of Art; Gift of William Alexander, Class of 1932. With permission of the Renate, Hans & Maria Hofmann Trust / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. As a young painter in Paris from 1904 to 1914, Hofmann immersed himself in an energetic cultural environment of modern art. When he returned to his painting practice in the 1930s, Hofmann sampled the stylistic techniques he experienced and practiced in Europe, such as the bold use of expressive colors by Matisse and the compressed and fractured spatial dimensions of Cubism. Hans Hofmann (1880–1966), Untitled, 1943. Gouache on paper, 17½ x 24. Private collec- tion, California. With permission of the Renate, Hans & Maria Hofmann Trust / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. The landscape of Provincetown continually inspired Hofmann, who used the topography of his immediate environment as a starting point from which to navigate through a range of pictorial expressions and exploration. He often painted standing on the dunes and drew on the rich colors he saw there—yellows, purples, blues, and greens—to evoke the vibrant energy of the coastline. Nature speaks to us in space, color, and light. —Hans Hofmann