WATTS INDEXThe canonical database of visual culture

Artists›Hans Hofmann

Hans Hofmann

1880–1966

WA-00003795

PaintingImpressionismCubismExpressionism

Representation

None documented

Institutional Exhibitions

Works in Collection

Assets Indexed

Authority-backed Facts

Publications Referenced

80%

Profile Completeness

Cultural Positioning

Influence Graph

No influence edges encoded yet.

Authority Records (2)

WikidataQ215461

MoMA

Field Verification (7 fields)

5 cross-verified · 2 single-source

DeceasedWikidata + Unknown· 92%✓
Primary mediumWikidata + Unknown· 92%✓
Birth yearWikidata + Unknown· 92%✓
Death yearWikidata + Unknown· 92%✓
BiographyWikipedia + Unknown· 88%✓
NationalityWikidata + Artsy+1· 92%
LocationArtsy + Wikidata+1· 85%

Source Registry (5)

Kasminhttps://www.artsy.net/artist/hans-hofmann
Tier 3 · Scraped/inferred100%
Christies-Artsyhttps://www.artsy.net/artist/hans-hofmann
Tier 3 · Scraped/inferred100%
Sothebyshttps://www.sothebys.com/en/artists/hans-hofmann
Tier 3 · Scraped/inferred100%
MoMA bulk 2026-05-04https://www.moma.org/artists/2698
Tier 1 · Institutional92%
Paula-Cooper
Tier 3 · Scraped/inferred60%

About

Why this artist matters now

Hans Hofmann developed a rigorous approach to abstract painting centered on pictorial structure, spatial illusionism, and expressive color. Emigrating from Munich to New York in 1932, he synthesized early twentieth-century European modernism. Symbolism, Neo-Impressionism, Fauvism, and Cubism, into a distinctive painterly abstraction that preceded and shaped Abstract Expressionism. His 1944 debut at Peggy Guggenheim's Art of This Century marked a decisive shift in American abstract practice. Hofmann's influence as a painter and teacher extended across two continents and generations, culminating in major retrospectives at the Whitney Museum of American Art and Museum of Modern Art in the 1950s and 1960s.

Source: Kasmin · Trust score: 100% · Updated 1mo ago

Graph relationships

Taste overlap and adjacency

Movement

Impressionism

Medium

Painting

Related Artists

12 in graph

Institutional

Museum Collections

Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum The Metropolitan Museum of Art Cleveland Museum of Art Art Institute of Chicago Tate

Canonical record

Artworks (14)

WattsOS

December 65 Series No. 2 (Brown)

1965 · oil and ink

Sheet: 33.9 x 26.6 cm (13 3/8 x 10 1/2 in.)

Cleveland Museum of Art

Nulli Secundus

1964 · Oil paint on canvas

support: 2136 x 1318 mm frame: 2184 x 1368 x 50 mm

85 1/4 x 73 1/2 in. (216.5 x 186.7 cm)

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Golden Wall

1961 · Oil on canvas

Unframed: 152.4 × 183.5 cm (60 × 72 1/4 in.); 152.4 × 183.6 cm (60 × 72 1/4 in.)

Art Institute of Chicago

Pompeii

1959 · Oil paint on canvas

support: 2140 x 1327 mm

Tate

WattsOS

Smaragd Red and Germinating Yellow

1959 · oil on canvas

Framed: 144 x 106 x 4.5 cm (56 11/16 x 41 3/4 x 1 3/4 in.); Unframed: 139.7 x 101.6 cm (55 x 40 in.)

Cleveland Museum of Art

Blue Rhythm

1950 · Oil on canvas

121.9 × 91.4 cm (48 × 36 in.)

Art Institute of Chicago

WattsOS

The Moon

1949 · watercolor and gouache

Sheet: 43.6 x 35.5 cm (17 3/16 x 14 in.)

Cleveland Museum of Art

WattsOS

Provincetown Landscape

1942 · Wax crayon and black ink on paper

14 × 17 in. (35.6 × 43.2 cm)

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

WattsOS

Self-Portrait

1942 · Ink on paper

10 15/16 × 8 3/8 in. (27.8 × 21.2 cm)

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Poet

1940 · Oil on canvas

115 × 150.2 cm (45 1/4 × 59 1/8 in.)

Art Institute of Chicago

WattsOS

Untitled

1935 · Brush and black ink on paper

11 x 8 5/8 in. (27.9 x 21.9 cm)

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

WattsOS

Untitled

1932 · Ink on paper

8 3/8 × 10 13/16 in. (21.2 × 27.4 cm)

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Head of a Woman

1900 · Pen and black ink on cream wove tracing paper

37.1 × 29.5 cm (14 5/8 × 11 5/8 in.)

Art Institute of Chicago

View all 14 artworks →

Artwork sources (5)

14 published of 23 catalogued · 14 with image

The Met
5 published
Art Institute Chicago
4 published4 img
Cleveland Museum of Art
3 published
Tate
2 published2 img
+ 1 more source · 9 catalogued, not yet published

Per-Artwork Provenance Chains (top 5)

5 entries · 1 sources

Pompeii
1959 · Tate · 1 prov
Url Pattern Extraction 2026-05-27·accession_number
The Moon
1949 · Cleveland · 1 prov
Url Pattern Extraction 2026-05-27·accession_number
Smaragd Red and Germinating Yellow
1959 · Cleveland · 1 prov
Url Pattern Extraction 2026-05-27·accession_number
December 65 Series No. 2 (Brown)
1965 · Cleveland · 1 prov
Url Pattern Extraction 2026-05-27·accession_number
Nulli Secundus
1964 · Tate · 1 prov
Url Pattern Extraction 2026-05-27·accession_number

Record

Images

Wikipedia

Artsy

Wikipedia

Relationships

Movements7

Impressionism Cubism Expressionism Fauvism Geometric Abstraction Symbolism

Collections6

Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum The Metropolitan Museum of Art Cleveland Museum of Art Art Institute of Chicago Tate Christie's

Institutional

Representation & Collections

In collection

Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum

In collection

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

In collection

Cleveland Museum of Art

In collection

Art Institute of Chicago

In collection

Tate

Market

Auction sale history

Houses that have sold works by this artist at auction

Auction house

Christie's

Background

Education

Académie Colarossi

Visual Arts

Record

Exhibitions and timeline

No exhibitions or timeline entries yet