Skip to main content
Want more images or videos?
Request additional images or videos from the seller
1 of 11

Margo Hoff
Skaters (Action Series), 1970s Figurative Abstract Collage Mixed Media Painting

circa 1980

About the Item

Acrylic, crayon, and paper mixed media collage on stretched canvas titled 'Skater' from the 'Action Series' signed by Margo Hoff (1910-2008). Featuring 12 figures in shades of yellow in movement on a striped background. Wrapped canvas is ready for hanging measuring 60 x 48 x 1 1⁄4 inches. Provenance: Estate of the Artist, Margo Hoff About the Artist: A prolific artist, Margo Hoff’s exquisite style evolved throughout her career yet was always rooted in the events, people, and places in her life. The human experience was her sole focus, expressed through her eyes alone. Born in 1910 in Tulsa, Oklahoma, Hoff began creating white-clay animals at a young age, giving them to her friends and family. At eleven she contracted typhoid fever and was bedridden for a summer. During her convalescence, she drew and made cutouts, and it was during this time that her bold, artistic imagination came alive. She began formal art training in high school and continued her education at the University of Oklahoma, Tulsa. In 1933 she moved to Chicago and attended the National Academy of Art and the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Between 1933 and 1960—her Chicago years—Hoff’s works was deeply rooted in a figurative, regionalist style. She often used elements of magical realism, and many of her paintings have dreamlike qualities. As a child she learned about color by grinding down rocks, plants, and berries. Her color pallet during the Chicago years is indicative of her early-life color experimentation as she consistently used warm, earth tones in her work. Hoff was a born adventurer and traveled extensively. She lived, worked, taught, and painted in Europe, Mexico, Lebanon, Uganda, Brazil, and China. She also showed at the Denver Art Museum’s Annual Western Exhibitions in 1952-54, 56, and 57. In 1957 she showed along side Colorado modernist Vance Kirkland at the Denver Art Museum’s exhibition, Man's Conquest of Space. What was once a focus on the representational, her work began to change after 1957 when she saw Sputnik in its orbit around Earth. At that moment, feet firmly placed on the ground, she was able to imagine herself in space, looking down from the cosmos, and what she saw was an abstracted world. She then had the opportunity to peer into an electron microscope where once again she was looking down into what seemed to be a realm of pure abstraction. These two events profoundly changed her perspective and she began to move from figural painting to abstract, geometric collage. In 1960, Hoff moved to New York City and she began creating collages. Placing the canvas on the ground, and working from all sides, she used strips of painted paper and tissue—and later painted pieces of canvas—glued onto the canvas surface, building layer upon layer, shape against shape, “action of color next to stillness of color.” She believed these simplified, abstracted forms held the spirit of the subject in the same way poetry reduces words to their essence. These pieces range from aerial cityscapes, to dancers in motions, to flora and fauna, whittled down to geometric shapes and flat, bold colors. Hoff’s work was exhibited widely throughout the United States and in England, France, Italy, and Lebanon. She passed away in New York City at the age of 98, leaving a rich legacy behind. Margo Hoff’s works are in the collections of: the Art Institute of Chicago, the Brooklyn Museum, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Corcoran Gallery and the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., the Whitney Museum of American Art, and the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.
  • Creator:
    Margo Hoff (1912, American)
  • Creation Year:
    circa 1980
  • Dimensions:
    Height: 60 in (152.4 cm)Width: 48 in (121.92 cm)Depth: 1.25 in (3.18 cm)
  • Medium:
  • Movement & Style:
  • Period:
  • Framing:
    Framing Options Available
  • Condition:
    very good condition.
  • Gallery Location:
    Denver, CO
  • Reference Number:
    Seller: 211391stDibs: LU2731193983
More From This SellerView All
  • Break Dance, 1975 Large Abstract Figurative Collage Painting, Black Pink Purple
    By Margo Hoff
    Located in Denver, CO
    'Break Dancers' is an original vintage 1980s painting by Chicago artist, Margo Hoff (1910-2008). From the artist's "Action Series" the painting depicts ...
    Category

    1970s Abstract Abstract Paintings

    Materials

    Canvas, Mixed Media, Acrylic

  • Dark Divers, Underwater Abstract Figurative Collage Painting, Blue Black, Red
    By Margo Hoff
    Located in Denver, CO
    Margo Hoff (1910-2008) original signed painting "Dark Divers" circa 1985, mixed media on canvas (acrylic, crayon, paper collage on stretched canvas) - 20th century Chicago woman artist. Wrapped canvas has finished edges and is ready for hanging. Provenance: Estate of the Artist, Margo Hoff Painting is clean and in very good condition - please contact us for a detailed condition report. A prolific artist, Margo Hoff’s exquisite style evolved throughout her career yet was always rooted in the events, people, and places in her life. The human experience was her sole focus, expressed through her eyes alone. Born in 1910 in Tulsa, Oklahoma, Hoff began creating white-clay animals at a young age, giving them to her friends and family. At eleven she contracted typhoid fever and was bedridden for a summer. During her convalescence, she drew and made cutouts, and it was during this time that her bold, artistic imagination came alive. She began formal art training in high school and continued her education at the University of Oklahoma, Tulsa. In 1933 she moved to Chicago and attended the National Academy of Art and the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Between 1933 and 1960—her Chicago years—Hoff’s works was deeply rooted in a figurative, regionalist style. She often used elements of magical realism, and many of her paintings have dreamlike qualities. As a child she learned about color by grinding down rocks, plants, and berries. Her color pallet during the Chicago years is indicative of her early-life color experimentation as she consistently used warm, earth tones in her work. Hoff was a born adventurer and traveled extensively. She lived, worked, taught, and painted in Europe, Mexico, Lebanon, Uganda, Brazil, and China. She also showed at the Denver Art Museum’s Annual Western Exhibitions in 1952-54, 56, and 57. In 1957 she showed along side Colorado modernist Vance Kirkland at the Denver Art Museum’s exhibition, Man's Conquest of Space. What was once a focus on the representational, her work began to change after 1957 when she saw Sputnik in its orbit around Earth. At that moment, feet firmly placed on the ground, she was able to imagine herself in space, looking down from the cosmos, and what she saw was an abstracted world. She then had the opportunity to peer into an electron microscope where once again she was looking down into what seemed to be a realm of pure abstraction. These two events profoundly changed her perspective and she began to move from figural painting to abstract, geometric collage. In 1960, Hoff moved to New York City and she began creating collages. Placing the canvas on the ground, and working from all sides, she used strips of painted paper and tissue—and later painted pieces of canvas—glued onto the canvas surface, building layer upon layer, shape against shape, “action of color next to stillness of color.” She believed these simplified, abstracted forms held the spirit of the subject in the same way poetry reduces words to their essence. These pieces range from aerial cityscapes, to dancers in motions, to flora...
    Category

    1980s Abstract Abstract Paintings

    Materials

    Mixed Media

  • Fetishes, 1940s Abstract Figurative Southwestern Mixed Media Painting, Red Gray
    By Howard Schleeter
    Located in Denver, CO
    An original gouache and wax painting by New Mexico modernist, Howard Schleeter (1903-1976) signed and dated lower right from November 18, 1949. Presented in a custom frame created b...
    Category

    1940s American Modern Abstract Paintings

    Materials

    Wax, Gouache, Archival Paper

  • New York City Abstract Skyline, Semi Abstract Night Scene Cityscape Oil Painting
    By Charles Ragland Bunnell
    Located in Denver, CO
    Oil on board painting of abstracted New York City skyline by Charles Ragland Bunnell from 1951. Nocturne cityscape painted in colors of black, shades of blue, and yellow. Presented in a custom black frame, outer dimensions measure 30 ¼ x 12 ¼ x ¾ inches. Image size is 30 x 12 ¼ inches. Painting is in good vintage condition - please contact us for detailed condition report. Provenance: Estate of Charles Ragland Bunnell Expedited and international shipping is available - please contact us for a quote. About the Artist: Charles Bunnell developed a love for art at a very young age. As a child in Kansas City, Missouri, he spent much of his time drawing. When he was unable to find paper he drew on walls and in the margins of textbooks for which he was often fined. Around 1915, Bunnell moved with his family to Colorado Springs, Colorado. He served in World War I and later used his GI Training to study at the Broadmoor Art Academy (later renamed the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center) during 1922 and 1923. In 1922, he married fellow student, Laura Palmer...
    Category

    1950s Abstract Abstract Paintings

    Materials

    Oil, Board

  • The Four Winter Months, Semi-Abstract Figure Oil Painting, Red Black Orange Blue
    By Edward Marecak
    Located in Denver, CO
    1985 original signed oil painting titled 'The Four Winter Months' by Denver modernist, Edward Marecak (1919-1993) with four abstract/stylized figures painted with colors of red, black, green, gray, blue, and orange. Referential abstraction painted in oil on canvas, signed and dated lower right, titled verso. Presented in a vintage frame, outer dimensions measure 24 ½ x 30 ½ x 1 ¼ inches. Image size is 23 ¾ x 30 inches. Provenance: Estate of the artist, Edward Marecak About the Artist: Born Ohio 1919 Died Colorado 1993 Born to immigrant parents from the Carpathian region in Slovakia, Marecak grew up with his family in the farming community of Bennett’s Corners, now part of the town of Brunswick, near Cleveland, Ohio. When he turned twelve, his family moved to a multi-ethnic neighborhood of Poles, Czechs, Slovaks, and Slovenians in Cleveland. His childhood household cherished the customs and Slavic folk tales from the Old Country that later strongly influenced his work as a professional artist. His junior and senior high projects earned him a full scholarship to the Cleveland Institute of Art (1938-1942) where he studied with Henry George Keller whose work was included in the 1913 New York Armory Show. In 1940 Marecak also taught at the Museum School of the Cleveland Institute. Before being drafted into the military in 1942, he briefly attended the Cranbrook Academy of Art near Detroit, one of the nation’s leading graduate schools of art, architecture, and design. Marecak’s studies at Cranbrook with painter Zoltan Sepeshy...
    Category

    20th Century Abstract Abstract Paintings

    Materials

    Canvas, Oil

  • Masks, 1980s Semi-Abstract Polychromatic Oil Painting, Vibrant Multicolor
    By Edward Marecak
    Located in Denver, CO
    Oil on board painting by Edward Marecak (1919-1993) titled "Masks" from the 1980s. Mosaic style oil painting in vibrant colors of red, blue, green, yellow, and orange. Presented in a...
    Category

    1980s Abstract Abstract Paintings

    Materials

    Oil

You May Also Like
  • Purple Desert Mirage, Large Geometric Painting in Pale Tones, Rainbow Gradient
    By Ryan Rivadeneyra
    Located in Barcelona, ES
    "Purple Desert Mirage" is a hand-painted acrylic painting on high-quality 300g paper by artist Ryan Rivadeneyra. These painting, influenced by modernist artists of the 50's, 60's, a...
    Category

    2010s Abstract Geometric Abstract Paintings

    Materials

    Oil Pastel, Ink, Sumi Ink, Oil, Acrylic, Watercolor, Archival Paper

  • Seventies Sunset I, Kidney Mirage Shapes in Pastel Warm Tones, Rainbow Style
    By Ryan Rivadeneyra
    Located in Barcelona, ES
    "Seventies Sunset I" is a hand-painted acrylic painting on high-quality 300g paper by artist Ryan Rivadeneyra. These painting, influenced by modernist artists of the 50's, 60's, and...
    Category

    2010s Abstract Geometric Abstract Paintings

    Materials

    Oil Pastel, Ink, Sumi Ink, Oil, Acrylic, Watercolor, Archival Paper

  • Survival of the fittest, Fillipus Sheehama, Mixed media
    By Fillipus Sheehama
    Located in Windhoek, NA
    Survival of the fittest, 2022. Mixed media: charcoal, pastel, acrylic paint on reclaimed paper Sheehama graduated from the University of Namibia with a Bachelor of Art (Fine Art) Ho...
    Category

    2010s Abstract Figurative Paintings

    Materials

    Paper, Charcoal, Pastel, Mixed Media, Acrylic

  • A burden of proof, Fillipus Sheehama, Mixed media
    By Fillipus Sheehama
    Located in Windhoek, NA
    A burden of proof, 2022. Mixed media: charcoal, pastel, acrylic paint on reclaimed paper Sheehama graduated from the University of Namibia with a Bachelor of Art (Fine Art) Honours degree in 2010 and has taught Visual Arts at the John Muafangejo...
    Category

    2010s Abstract Figurative Paintings

    Materials

    Paper, Charcoal, Pastel, Mixed Media, Acrylic

  • A Call to Self-Awareness, Fillipus Sheehama, Mixed media
    By Fillipus Sheehama
    Located in Windhoek, NA
    A Call to Self-Awareness, 2022. Mixed media: charcoal, pencil, acrylic paint on reclaimed paper Sheehama graduated from the University of Namibia with a Bachelor of Art (Fine Art) H...
    Category

    2010s Abstract Figurative Paintings

    Materials

    Paper, Charcoal, Pastel, Mixed Media, Acrylic

  • The farm of wisdom, Fillipus Sheehama, Mixed media
    By Fillipus Sheehama
    Located in Windhoek, NA
    The farm of wisdom, 2022. Mixed media: charcoal, pencil, acrylic paint on reclaimed paper Sheehama graduated from the University of Namibia with a Bachelor of Art (Fine Art) Honours degree in 2010 and has taught Visual Arts at the John Muafangejo...
    Category

    2010s Abstract Figurative Paintings

    Materials

    Paper, Charcoal, Pastel, Mixed Media, Acrylic

Recently Viewed

View All