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Lot Essay
Hofer's art is hugely influenced by what he saw in Rome and Paris. Theodor Reinhart, Hofer's celebrated patron, enabled him to spend an extensive period in Rome where he lived from 1903 to 1908. The artistic history of the city, the light of the south and, above all, the frescoes his compatriot Hans von Marèes executed in 1873 in Naples affected him profoundly and would continue to do so for the rest of his life. In 1908 he went to Paris where he stayed until 1911. There, under the influence of artists like El Greco, Delacroix and and above all Cézanne, he developed his own peculiar use of colour and composition.
These two poles of influence are clearly visible in the present work. The sculpturesque young girl and the subject (the interior of a woman's chamber as a pretext to academic nude studies) are inherited from a classical tradition, whilst the use of colour, applied in large and plain brustrokes recalls Cézanne's early technique.
Hofer executed this painting in 1919 when he was living in Berlin, and teaching at the Hochschule fr Bildende Knste. The Berlin art scene at that time was dominated by Expressionism on one side and by the traditionalist painters, championed by Kaiser Wilhelm II, on the other. Hofer's position was one of an outsider. Aware of his singular position, he once remarked; "Irgend ein Naturalismus blieb mir fremd von Anbeginn an. Nie habe ich eine Figuration nach des äßeren Natur des Zufälligen geschaffen. Der Impressionismus vermochte mich darum nicht zu berhren. Die Ekstasen des Expressionismus lagen mir nicht. Ebenso wenig lag es mich, durch die bei uns so hoch geschäzten Brutalitäten zu wirken, die fr Kraft gehalten werden.. Der Mensch und das Menschliche war und ist immerdauerndes Objekt meiner Darstellung..." (Karl Hofer, Aus Leben und Kunst, Berlin, 1952, p.30).
Sold with a photo-certificate from Karl Bernhard Wohlert, dated Dortmund, den 17.8.1998. This work will be included in the forthcoming Karl Hofer catalogue raisonné being prepared by Karl Bernhard Wohlert and is numbered 355 in the archive.
These two poles of influence are clearly visible in the present work. The sculpturesque young girl and the subject (the interior of a woman's chamber as a pretext to academic nude studies) are inherited from a classical tradition, whilst the use of colour, applied in large and plain brustrokes recalls Cézanne's early technique.
Hofer executed this painting in 1919 when he was living in Berlin, and teaching at the Hochschule fr Bildende Knste. The Berlin art scene at that time was dominated by Expressionism on one side and by the traditionalist painters, championed by Kaiser Wilhelm II, on the other. Hofer's position was one of an outsider. Aware of his singular position, he once remarked; "Irgend ein Naturalismus blieb mir fremd von Anbeginn an. Nie habe ich eine Figuration nach des äßeren Natur des Zufälligen geschaffen. Der Impressionismus vermochte mich darum nicht zu berhren. Die Ekstasen des Expressionismus lagen mir nicht. Ebenso wenig lag es mich, durch die bei uns so hoch geschäzten Brutalitäten zu wirken, die fr Kraft gehalten werden.. Der Mensch und das Menschliche war und ist immerdauerndes Objekt meiner Darstellung..." (Karl Hofer, Aus Leben und Kunst, Berlin, 1952, p.30).
Sold with a photo-certificate from Karl Bernhard Wohlert, dated Dortmund, den 17.8.1998. This work will be included in the forthcoming Karl Hofer catalogue raisonné being prepared by Karl Bernhard Wohlert and is numbered 355 in the archive.