Still Life

Still Life

1936
Artist
Hans Hofmann, American, 1880-1966
Born: Weissenburg in Bayern, Germany
Work Locations: United States, Munich, Germany, Paris, France
Country
United States
Object
painting
Medium
Casein on plywood
Accession Number
1993.126
Credit Line
Gift of Rose and King Shwayder

Hans Hofmann
Still Life, 1936
Casein on plywood
Gift of Rose and King Shwayder, 1993.126

Dimensions
height: 34 1/2 in, 87.6300 cm; width: 28 3/4 in, 73.0250 cm; frame height: 41 1/2 in, 105.4100 cm; frame width: 36 in, 91.4400 cm
Inscription
Signed on reverse (sticker): Hans Hofmann
Department
Modern and Contemporary Art
Collection
Modern and Contemporary Art
This object is currently on view
Hofmann’s credo — the emotional impact of opposing forces — earned him the title of the Father of Abstract Expressionism Hofmann painted Still Life in 1936 early in his career, if not in his life, at the age of 66. In the years before he started painting in earnest, he had established a venerable career as a teacher, in Bavaria, Paris, and, beginning in 1930, in the United States. Nearly all the young abstract painters studied with him at some point. However Hofmann’s painting style had not yet crystallized — it was a still a mixture of Fauvist color and Cubist structure. “If I ever find a style, I’ll stop painting,” he said to his New York dealer, half in jest. Still Life from 1936 still combines linear structure with brash, arbitrary areas of loosely painted color. Yet the “push and pull” aesthetic which the artist preached is very much in evidence — the reds and yellows push toward the surface, while the blues recede into the background.

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