This work is often considered exemplary of Hofmann’s late style. Using the structure of Mondrian’s compositions of the 1920s, Hofmann added qualities that Mondrian suppressed: exuberant color and rich effects of texture. Hofmann taught for many years at Provincetown, Mass., where he inspired scores of faithful students, among them Giorgio Cavallon, Helen Frankenthaler, Lee Krasner, and Alfred Leslie.
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Inscription: Signed, dated, and inscribed (lower right): hans hofmann 61; (verso, upper right): Cat. #1310/ Mecca/ oil on canvas/ 84 x 60 1961/ hans hofmann
[Kootz Gallery, New York, until 1962; sold in January 1962 to Newman]; Muriel Kallis Newman, Chicago (1962–2006; her gift to MMA)
New York. Kootz Gallery. "Hans Hofmann: New Paintings," January 2–20, 1962.
Museum of Modern Art, New York. "Hans Hofmann," September 11–November 28, 1963, no. 32.
University of Chicago, Bergman Gallery. "Avant-Garde Chicago: Exhibit of Contemporary Art from Chicago Collectors," opened November 11, 1968, unnumbered cat.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "An American Choice: The Muriel Kallis Steinberg Newman Collection," May 21–September 27, 1981, unnumbered cat. (p. 97).
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Abstract Expressionism and Other Modern Works: The Muriel Kallis Steinberg Newman Collection in The Metropolitan Museum of Art," September 17, 2007–February 3, 2008, extended to March 2, 2008, no. 56.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Hans Hofmann: Selected Paintings," November 18, 2014–April 19, 2015, no catalogue.
Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive, University of California at Berkeley. "Hans Hofmann: The Nature of Abstraction," February 27–July 21, 2019, no. 55.
Salem, Mass. Peabody Essex Museum. "Hans Hofmann: The Nature of Abstraction," September 21, 2019–January 6, 2020, no. 55.
Vivien Raynor. "Hans Hofmann." Arts Magazine 36 (February 1962), pp. 38–39.
Sam Hunter. Hans Hofmann. New York, 1964, pl. 162 (detail).
Alice Hess. "Great Private Collections: A Chicago Visionary." Saturday Review 7 (October 1980), p. 72, ill. p. 75.
Grace Glueck. "Met Is Given a $12 Million Art Collection." New York Times (December 10, 1980), p. B7.
Diana Loercher-Pazicky. "Une donation bienvenue." Connaissance des Arts no. 354 (August 1981), ill. p. 21 (color).
Diana Loercher-Pazicky. "The Newman Bequest." Connaissance des Arts no. 19 (August 1981), ill. p. 17 (color).
William Agee. "Muriel Kallis Newman–Life Among the Moderns." Architectural Digest 43 (December 1986), p. 70, ill. (color).
David Anfam inAbstract Expressionism and Other Modern Works: The Muriel Kallis Steinberg Newman Collection in The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Ed. Gary Tinterow, Lisa Mintz Messinger, and Nan Rosenthal. Exh. cat., The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 2007, pp. 181–83, no. 56, ill. (color).
Suzi Villiger, ed. Hans Hofmann: Catalogue Raisonné of Paintings. Vol. 3, Catalogue Entries P847–PW89 (1952–1965). Surrey, 2014, pp. 321–22, no. P1348, ill. (color).
Hans Hofmann (American (born Germany), Wessenburg 1880–1966 New York)
1942
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