WRITINGS BY THE ARTIST

The selected bibliography listed below is based upon that found in the Hans Hofmann Catalogue Raisonné of Paintings. It is a selection of writings by and interviews with the artist.

1915

Schule für bildende Kunst/Hans Hofmann (text in German), Munich, c. 1915. Prospectus for the Hans Hofmann School of Fine Arts, located on Georgenstraße 40. Hans Hofmann Papers, Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC. English translation in William Seitz, Hans Hofmann (solo exh. cat., 1963) p. 56.

1927

The School of Fine Arts/H. Hofmann. Summer Course at Capri. July, August and September 1927. Brochure, with course description and list of American students in Hofmann’s school in recent years. Martin and Harriet Diamond Collection, Special Collections and University Archives, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ.

1928

The School of Fine Arts/H. Hofmann. Summer Course at St. Tropez, French Riviera. July, August and September 1928. Brochure, with course description and list of American students in Hofmann’s school in recent years. Martin and Harriet Diamond Collection, Special Collections and University Archives, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ.

1929

The School of Fine Arts/H. Hofmann. Summer Course at St. Tropez, French Riviera. July, August and September 1929. Brochure, with course description, list of American students who have attended Hofmann’s school in recent years, quotes praising the program, and list of cities where Hofmann has conducted summer classes from 1919 to 1928. Martin and Harriet Diamond Collection, Special Collections and University Archives, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ.

1930

“A Review of the Field in Art Education: Art in America.” Art Digest 4, no. 19 (August 1930): p. 27.

1931

“Form und Farbe in der Gestaltung: Ein Lehrbuch für den Kunstunterricht” (text in German). Unpublished manuscript, 1931. Translated into English as “Creation in Form and Color: A Textbook for Instruction in Art” by Glenn Wessels, 1931. Rewritten as “Das Malerbuch: Form und Farbe in der Gestaltung” (text in German), 1948, and translated into English as “The Painter’s Primer: Form and Color in the Creative Process” by Georgina M. Huck.

“Painting and Culture.” The Fortnightly 1, no. 1 (11 September 1931): pp. 5–7. Reprinted in Hans Hofmann, Search for the Real, and Other Essays (1948), pp. 60–64; in Ross, ed., Abstract Expressionism: Creators and Critics; An Anthology (1990), pp. 85–88.

1932

Chouinard School of Art Announces Hans Hofmann. Brochure, with course description noting classes will be held in San Pedro Harbor, and excerpt from a speech by 132 Hofmann at a dinner in his honor to the faculty and students of the University of California, Berkeley. Los Angeles: Chouinard School of Art, 1932.

The Chouinard School of Art of Los Angeles Announces Herr Hans Hofmann for the 1932 Summer Session. Brochure, with course description and excerpt from a speech by Hofmann to the faculty and students of the University of California, Berkeley. Los Angeles: Chouinard School of Art, 1932.

“On the Aims of Art.” The Fortnightly 1, no. 13 (26 February 1932): pp. 7–11. Reprinted in Harrison and Wood, eds., Art in Theory, 1900–2000: An Anthology of Changing Ideas (2003), pp. 371–74.

“Plastic Creation.” Translated from German by Ludwig Sander. The League 5 (Winter 1932–1933): pp. 10–15, 21–23. Reprinted in The League 22, no. 3 (Winter 1950): pp. 3–6; in Hunter, Hans Hofmann (1963), pp. 35–38; in Yohe, ed., Hans Hofmann (2002), pp. 41–44.

School of Fine Arts/H. Hofmann. 1932 Summer Course at St. Tropez, French Riviera. June 1st until October 1st (text in English and German). Brochure, with course description and note indicating that, in the absence of Hofmann, the summer school is conducted by Edmund Daniel Kinzinger. Martin and Harriet Diamond Collection, Special Collections and University Archives, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ.

1941

Address delivered on 16 February 1941 at the Symposium on Abstract Art held during the Annual American Abstract Artists’ Exhibition at the Riverside Museum, New York. Excerpts published in “The Artist Speaks: Part Six,” Art in America 53, no. 4 (August–September 1965): p. 110; in The Artist in America (1967), pp. 197–98. Excerpts published as “Psychological and Plastic,” in Art/World 14, no. 7–10 (Summer 1990): p. 8.

1945

Wolf, Ben. “The Digest Interviews Hans Hofmann” (interview with the artist). Art Digest 19, no. 13 (1 April 1945): p. 52.

1946

Statement, 5 February 1946. In Hans Hofmann: Paintings on Paper from the 1940s (solo exh. cat.), n.p. New York: André Emmerich Gallery, 1990.

1947

“Moral Consciousness versus Regimentation: A Contribution in an Attempt to Attain a Higher Standard of Ethics in Art Education.” Typescript, May 1947. Lillian and Frederick Kiesler Papers, Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC.

1948

“Das Malerbuch: Form und Farbe in der Gestaltung” (text in German; revision of “Form und Farbe in der Gestaltung: Ein Lehrbuch für den Kunstunterricht,” 1931). Unpublished manuscript, 1948. Translated into English as “The Painter’s Primer: Form and Color in the Creative Process” by Georgina M. Huck. Excerpt published as “Introduction to ‘The Painter’s Primer.’” Mulch 3, no. 2 (Winter–Spring 1975): pp. 29–37.

Search for the Real, and Other Essays. Edited by Sara T. Weeks and Bartlett H. Hayes Jr. Includes “The Search for the Real in the Visual Arts,” pp. 46–54; “Sculpture,” pp. 55– 59; “Painting and Culture,” pp. 60–64; and excerpts adapted from essays by Hofmann: On the Aims of Art” and “Plastic Creation,” pp. 65–74. Andover, MA: Addison Gallery of American Art, Phillips Academy, 1948. Reprinted by Cambridge, MA: The M.I.T. Press, 1967.

1949

“American Art Today.” In Ellsworth, Arts & Architecture (solo exh. rev., 1949): pp. 26–27, 45–47.

Statement, 30 October 1949. In Recent Paintings by Hans Hofmann (solo exh. brochure), n.p. New York: Kootz Gallery, 1949.

“Statement: The Perfect Architecture (Can the Egg Fertilize Itself ?).” Arts & Architecture 66, no. 11 (November 1949): p. 24.

“What is an Artist?” Address given on 3 July 1949, during Forum 49, at Gallery 200 in Provincetown. Reprinted in Goodman, Hans Hofmann (solo exh. cat., 1990), pp. 168–69; in Jennifer Liese, “Towards No Laocoön: Forum 49 Allies the Art,” pp. 35–36. Master’s Thesis, The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, 2002.

1950

“Homage to A.H. Maurer.” In Hartley, Mauer: Contemporaneous Painting, n.p. New York: Bertha Schaefer Gallery, 1950.

Talk delivered on 28 August 1950 at the Provincetown Art Association. Typescript, 1950. Hans Hofmann Papers, Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC.

1951

“The Object in the Visual Arts—Its Function in Three-Dimensional Reality and Its Two-Dimensional Pictorial Realization,” 1 May 1951. In 40 American Painters, 1940–1950 (group exh. cat.), n.p. Minneapolis: University Gallery, University of Minnesota, 1951.

“Space Pictorially Realized through the Intrinsic Faculty of the Colors to Express Volume,” 26 September 1951. In New Paintings by Hans Hofmann (solo exh. brochure), n.p. New York: Kootz Gallery, 1951. Reprinted in Friedel and Dickey, Hans Hofmann (solo exh. cat., 1998), pp. 94–95.

Statement. In University of Illinois Exhibition of Contemporary American Painting (group exh. cat.), pp. 187–88. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1951.

1952

“Hawthorne—The Painter; An Appreciation.” In Charles W. Hawthorne 1872–1930, n.p. Provincetown, MA: Provincetown Art Association, 1952. Reprinted in Hawthorne on Painting, from Students’ Notes Collected by Mrs. Charles W. Hawthorne, pp. vii–ix. 2nd ed. New York: Dover, 1960; in Charles W. Hawthorne 1872–1930, n.p. Boston: Shore Galleries, 1962.

Statement. In University of Illinois Exhibition of Contemporary American Painting (group exh. cat.), pp. 199–200. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1952.

“A Statement by Hans Hofmann.” In Hans Hofmann: Recent Paintings (solo exh. brochure), n.p. New York: Kootz Gallery, 1952. Excerpts published in Contemporary American Painting and Sculpture (group exh. cat.), pp. 189–90. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1953.

1954

“The Mystery of Creative Relations.” New Ventures, no. 1 (1954): pp. 22–23. Reprinted in Tenth Anniversary Festival: Hofmann, New Paintings (solo exh. brochure, 1954), n.p.; in Contemporary American Painting and Sculpture (group exh. cat., 1955), pp. 207–08; in Hunter, Hans Hofmann (1963), p. 45; in Yohe, ed., Hans Hofmann(2002), pp. 49–50.

“The Resurrection of the Plastic Arts.” New Ventures, no. 1 (1954): pp. 21–22. Reprinted in Tenth Anniversary Festival: Hofmann, New Paintings (solo exh. brochure, 1954), n.p.; in Hunter, Hans Hofmann (1963), p. 44; in Yohe ed., Hans Hofmann(2002), p.49.

1955

“The Color Problem in Pure Painting—Its Creative Origin.” In Hans Hofmann: New Paintings (solo exh. brochure), n.p. New York: Kootz Gallery, 1955. Reprinted in Arts & Architecture 73, no. 2 (February 1956): pp. 14–15, 33–34; in Wight, Hans Hofmann (solo exh. cat., 1957), pp. 51–56; in Hunter, Hans Hofmann (1963), pp. 46–48; in Yohe, ed., Hans Hofmann (2002), pp. 51–53; in Wilkin, Hans Hofmann: A Retrospective (solo exh. cat., 2003), pp. 39–41. Excerpts published in Rose, Readings in American Art 1900–1975 (1975), pp. 116–18. Translated into German as Über die Farbe” in Grote, Hans Hofmann, Ausstellung 1962 (solo exh. cat., 1962), p. 16. German translation reprinted in Mauroner, Hans Hofmann: The American Years, Retrospective (solo exh. cat., 1999), n.p.

Statement, given during the first general forum, where Hofmann was asked to explain his own paintings. Bennington College Alumnae Quarterly 7, no. 1, special issue: Symposium on Art and Music (Fall 1955): pp. 22–23.

1956

“The Creative Process—Its Physical and Metaphysical Performing,” Typescript, January 1956. Hans Hofmann Papers, Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC. Published in Goodman, Hans Hofmann (solo exh. cat., 1990), pp. 175–76.

1957

“Nature and Art. Controversy and Misconceptions,” 26 October 1957. In New Paintings by Hans Hofmann (solo exh. brochure), n.p. New York: Kootz Gallery, 1958.

1959

“Space and Pictorial Life.” It Is, no. 4 (Autumn 1959): p. 10. Statement. In Contemporary American Painting and Sculpture (group exh. cat.), pp. 226–27. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1959.

Statement. It Is, no. 3 (Winter–Spring 1959): pp. 10, 19, 54. Reprinted in Rose, Readings in American Art 1900–1975 (1975), pp. 118–20.

Statement, November 1959. In Hans Hofmann: Paintings of 1959 (solo exh. brochure), n.p. New York: Kootz Gallery, 1960.

1960

“The Creative Act—Gesture and Meaning.” Handwritten passage, c. December 1960. Hans Hofmann Papers, Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC.

“Double Rejoinder.” It Is, no. 5 (Spring 1960): pp. 80–81. In response to William H. Littlefield’s rejoinder to Hofmann’s article, “Space and Pictorial Life,” It Is, no. 4 (Autumn 1959).

1962

“Lieber Dr. Grothe [sic]” (text in German). Letter to Ludwig Grote, 10 February 1962. In Grote, Hans Hofmann, Ausstellung 1962 (solo exh. cat., 1962), p. 17. Reprinted in Mauroner, Hans Hofmann: The American Years, Retrospective (solo exh. cat., 1999), n.p.

Speech delivered at the inauguration of the Hopkins Center, Dartmouth College, 17 November 1962. Published as “Hans Hofmann on Art,” in Art Journal 22, no. 3 (Spring 1963): pp. 180, 182. Excerpts published in Dartmouth Alumni Magazine 55, no. 3 (December 1962): p. 29; and in Hans Hofmann: Push Pull; An Exhibition of Paintings, Watercolors and Drawings (solo exh. brochure, 1996), n.p.

Statement, 29 June 1962. The Baltimore Museum of Art News 25, no. 4, special issue: A Tribute to Adelyn D. Breeskin (Summer 1962): p. 31.

Kuh, Katharine. “Hans Hofmann” (interview with the artist). In The Artist’s Voice: Talks with Seventeen Artists, pp. 118–29. New York: Harper & Row, 1962. Reissued as The Artist’s Voice: Talks with Seventeen Modern Artists, pp. 118–29. New York: Da Capo Press, 2000. Excerpts published in Ashton, ed., Twentieth-Century Artists on Art (1985), pp. 217–18.

P[ease], R[oland] F[olsom], Jr. “Hans Hofmann: Grand Old Man of the American Avant Garde” (interview with the artist). Art Voices 1, no. 1 (October 1962): p. 22.

1963

“The Painter and His Problems—A Manual Dedicated to Painting.” Typescript of 35 pages, 21 March 1963. The Museum of Modern Art Library, New York.

“Selected Writings on Art.” Typescript of 117 pages, undated, with essays from Search for the Real, and Other Essays (1948). Assembled by William C. Seitz in 1963. The Museum of Modern Art Library, New York.

Statement. In Eleventh Exhibition of Contemporary American Painting and Sculpture 1963 (group exh. cat.), p. 86. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1963.

“Strong Medicine” (letter to the editor concerning the editorial “Paint Your Troubles Away”). Sunday New York Herald Tribune, 6 October 1963.

1964

“Photo-Critic.” Location 1, no. 2 (Summer 1964): p. 98.

1965

Van Okker, W.M.H. “Visit with a Villager: Hans Hofmann” (interview with the artist). The Villager (Greenwich Village), 18 March 1965.

1971

Jaffe, Irma B. “A Conversation with Hans Hofmann” (interview with the artist in 1966). Artforum 9, no. 5 (January 1971): pp. 34–39. Excerpts published in Rose, Readings in American Art 1900–1975 (1975), pp. 120–21.