Hans Hofmann (1880-1966), renowned painter and master teacher, clarified perennial issues in painting, through his observation of the masters of all cultures. "Color Creates Light: Studies with Hans Hofmann" reveals an astonishing era during which Hofmann's ateliers in Munich, and later in New York and Provincetown, drew talented artists--as well as critics, dealers, collectors, and curators--who in turn transmitted and transmuted his ideas across Europe, America, Canada, and beyond. The decade during which Hofmann painted in Paris before World War I enabled him to explain Cubism to the avant-garde of Munich and New York, catalyzing the later Abstract Expressionism. His interactions with younger generations encouraged the development of some of the most significant artists and educators of the time. Dickey's absorbing account, illustrated with archival photographs and animated by interviews with former students, allows readers the ultimate privilege, to listen as artists talk shop, discussing how Hofmann taught and what he taught--the inner workings of visual language.
Copub: Berkeley Art Museum