Monday, August 8, 2011

Studying with Hans Hoffman - resources at the Berkeley Art Museum

 Hans Hoffman, Effervescence, Berkeley Art Museum (BAM).

Going back in time to study with one of the most influential teachers of modern art would require a time machine and I am afraid that we haven't built one yet. But the next best thing is right here in the Bay Area. UC Berkeley has a huge collection of Hoffman paintings and almost always has one gallery exhibiting work.

After all, the Berkeley Art Museum was founded in 1963 by following the donation to the university of forty-five paintings and $250,000 from artist and teacher Hans Hofmann. Their on-line data base also has a large number of Hoffman images; the search function is completely unworkable, but the images are fairly large with comprehensive captions. If you check the archive out, look at the enormous numbers of beautiful Chinese paintings. I hope that when the new museum opens (2014?), that they will have more room for exhibiting their collection of Asian Art.

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