White Space

Hans Hofmann

1950

One of the most influential figures of postwar American art, Hans Hofmann taught painting in Munich before settling in the United States in the 1930s to avoid the persecution of intellectuals under the Nazi regime. Hofmann imparted the principles of Cubism and Fauvism to younger artists, including Lee Krasner and Helen Frankenthaler, at schools he opened in New York City and Provincetown, Massachusetts. In this painting geometric planes of solid crimson, orange, and yellow overlap with brushy, modulated cobalt, emerald, and red. Toward the edges of the canvas this exuberant composition gives way to white space with touches of muted color and drawings resembling technical notations executed in thin lines of paint. Throughout his experimental career Hofmann advocated for what he famously called “push” and “pull,” or the juxtaposition of planes of hot and cold colors that appear to advance and recede based on optical properties, endowing two-dimensional paintings such as this one with depth and dynamism. [Permanent Collection Label, 2022]

Artist Hans Hofmann (American, b. Germany, 1880–1966)
Title White Space
Date 1950
Medium Oil on canvas mounted on board
Dimensions unframed | 29 7/8 x 37 7/8 in.
Credit line Gift of the Frederic Olsen Foundation, 1954
Object number WU 3847

Technique oil painting
Work type painting

Frederick Hartt and American Abstraction in the 1950s: Building the Collection at Washington University in St. Louis
Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum, Washington University in St. Louis, 05/04/2012 - 08/27/2012

Hans Hofmann: Circa 1950
Weatherspoon Art Museum, University of North Carolina, Greensboro (Greensboro, North Carolina), 07/04/2010 - 10/17/2010

Caught By Politics: Art of the 1930s and 1940s
Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum, Washington University in St. Louis, 01/19/2001 - 03/18/2001

International Abstraction: Art of the 1950s from the Washington University Collections
Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum, Washington University in St. Louis, 01/22/1999 - 03/28/1999

Abstract Expressionism: American Art in the 1950s and 1960s
Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum, Washington University in St. Louis, 01/17/1997 - 04/06/1997

Modernism at Midstream: From Europe to America and Back Again
Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum, Washington University in St. Louis, 09/04/1983 - 11/06/1983

The Centennial Exhibition
Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum, Washington University in St. Louis, 05/15/1981 - 10/11/1981

Cubist, Expressionist, and Surrealist Paintings and Sculptures

University Art Museum of the Month [verify dates]
Grand Rapids Art Museum, 04/07/1962 - 04/29/1962

Opening Exhibition of Mark C. Steinberg Memorial Hall
Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum, Washington University in St. Louis, 04/29/1960

Frederick Hartt and American Abstraction in the 1950s: Building the Collection at Washington University in St. Louis 2012

1954
Frederic Olsen Foundation, Hamden, CT

Inscription Recto, lower right corner, in black paint:

Label Verso, upper right corner on frame, browned label with blue trim and text printed in blue:

This artwork record may be incomplete or need refinement. Our staff actively researches the collection and revises records when new information is available. If you have questions or comments about this record, please contact us.