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Hans Hofmann
American, 1880 - 1966
Ruby Gold, 1959
American Painting
Oil on canvas
55 3/8 in. x 40 1/2 in. (140.65 cm x 102.87 cm), without frame
Marion Stratton Gould Fund, 60.37
Currently on View
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About the Object
Hans Hofmann’s Ruby Gold and John Koch’s Interlude [65.12] are a startling comparison, not simply as opposites, but as a lesson in continuity. To begin, both are easel paintings—not an automatic decision in this period. Both artists work in the venerable tradition of oil painting and are well acquainted with the techniques of the Old Masters, a tradition Koch embraced but Hofmann rejected. Both paintings depend equally on their creators’ knowledge of the interaction of color to suggest the illusion of depth.
There is more, however, than the ‘push-pull’ (Hofmann’s expression) of colors at work in these paintings. Embedded in this comparison is the critical tension between abstraction and realism, and the abiding question of the value of one approach over the other. In presenting Koch and Hofmann side by side, in encouraging awareness of the common ground they share, the ultimate invitation is to see them on their own terms.
[Gallery label text, 2006]
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