The Hans Hofmann Legacy: Creative Diversity

“Legacy” and “Diversity” prove thought-provoking but rewarding concepts in The Hans Hofmann Legacy: Creative Diversity, an exhibition of two dozen-plus artworks (including three modestly-sized, Expressionist drawings by Hofmann), that measure Hofmann’s influence as artist and teacher through the lens of those who absorbed and then reinterpreted his lessons.

In Some Models are Artists, Too (2011), Robert Henry—Hofmann “alum” who grew close to his teacher in the early 1950s and now, through his own teaching, transmits the Hofmann legacy—creates a dream-like dialogue, painting himself both as feverish art student and confident maestro. The bright palette and geometric shapes associated with Hofmann’s painting styles are alluded to in Some Models, yet Henry’s humor and narrative impulse are entirely his own.

Born in Bavaria, as a young man Hofmann (1880-1966) developed a reputation for teaching in Munich and Saint-Tropez and spent time in early 20th-century Paris. “The boys” was how the painter referred to Picasso and Matisse. In the 1930s, Hofmann accepted a summer position at the University of California at Berkeley. First on the West Coast and then in New York and Provincetown, he is credited with reinvigorating American art. “Although his teaching had a focused approach, Hofmann encouraged his students to reach into their creativity,” says guest curator Deborah Forman, whose specialty is Cape Cod artists, particularly Hofmann and those he taught.

In Provincetown, the Hans Hofmann School of Fine Arts was situated in a barn-like studio whose north-facing windows opened to Mediterranean light. Rather than proselytize for a particular style, through performance-like critiques he offered a sculptural approach to painting, demonstrating the use of volume, shape and color, grounded in Cubism, to create a three-dimensional “push/pull” on a two-dimensional canvas.

From the Impressionist landscapes of Wolf Kahn to the color-saturated abstractions of Paul Resika, the gilded, totemic figures of Selina Trieff and the monumental sculpture of Penelope Jencks, Creative Diversity is a cogent reminder that even at the highest levels, art-making is never a solo act. Artwork comes from CCMoA, the Provincetown Art Association and Museum, Berta Walker Gallery, the Cove Gallery and private collectors.

Image: Paul Resika, Vessels #36 (Red), 1999, oil on canvas, 32 x 40″. Courtesy Berta Walker Gallery.