Untitled (Abstract in Red & Black)
View Similar Items
Want more images or videos?
Request additional images or videos from the seller
1 of 10
Margo HoffUntitled (Abstract in Red & Black)
About the Item
- Creator:Margo Hoff (1912, American)
- Dimensions:Height: 42.75 in (108.59 cm)Width: 26.75 in (67.95 cm)Depth: 1.5 in (3.81 cm)
- Medium:
- Movement & Style:
- Period:
- Condition:very good to excellent vintage condition.
- Gallery Location:Denver, CO
- Reference Number:Seller: DCG-223121stDibs: LU2735841172
Margo Hoff
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 work was deeply rooted in a figurative, regionalist style. She often used elements of magical realism, and many of her paintings have dreamlike qualities. 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 National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., and the Whitney Museum of American Art.
About the Seller
5.0
Platinum Seller
These expertly vetted sellers are 1stDibs' most experienced sellers and are rated highest by our customers.
Established in 1979
1stDibs seller since 2013
265 sales on 1stDibs
Typical response time: 3 hours
More From This SellerView All
- Untitled II (Sea Wall), 1960s Abstract Oil and Crayon on Board, Pink, Red, GrayBy Margo HoffLocated in Denver, COCirca 1968 abstract oil and crayon on board by artist Margo Hoff (1910-2008), estate stamped verso. Abstracted cliff scene painted in shades of red, pink...Category
1960s Abstract Abstract Paintings
MaterialsBoard, Crayon, Oil
- Nude Side View, Abstract Figurative Oil Painting of a Female Figure, Pink BlueBy Martin SaldanaLocated in Denver, COAbstract figurative nude portrait of a female surrounded by birds and floral arrangements, oil on board by Martin Saldana (1874-1965) titled 'Nude Side View'. Presented in a custom frame measuring 28 ¾ x 21 inches; image size is 20 ¾ x 13 ¾ inches. Painting is in good condition - please contact us for a detailed condition report. About the Artist: Born Mexico 1874 Died 1965 Born in 1874, Saldaña grew up at Rancho Neuvo in Mexico. In 1950, at the age of 76, he began attending children's art classes at the Denver Art Museum. For the next fitfteen years, Saldaña Imaginatively documented whimsical memories from his childhood in San Luis Potosi, Mexico, portraying ranch life, landscapes, and his great love of animals. The prolific artist painted every day, completing a new piece about every three days and amassing an impressive body of work for the former cook at the Denver landmark, the Brown Palace...Category
Early 20th Century Abstract Figurative Paintings
MaterialsOil, Board
- 1950s Abstract Expressionist Oil Painting, Blue Brown Orange Sage GreenBy Charles Ragland BunnellLocated in Denver, COAbstract expressionist oil painting on board from 1955 by Charles Bunnell. Abstract shapes in layers of sage green, light blue, brown, gold, and black. Presented in a custom frame, o...Category
1950s Abstract Expressionist Abstract Paintings
MaterialsBoard, Oil
- 1950s Abstract Oil Painting, Blue, Pink, Yellow, Black, Vertical HorizontalBy Paul Kauvar SmithLocated in Denver, COAbstract painting in blue, pink, yellow, green, and black by Paul Kauvar Smith (1893-1977). Oil on board. Presented in a custom frame, outer dimensions measure 29 ½ x 23 ¾ x 2 inche...Category
1950s Abstract Geometric Abstract Paintings
MaterialsOil, Board
- Masks And Flowers, Semi Abstract Vintage 1984 Painting, Red Yellow Green PinkBy Edward MarecakLocated in Denver, COMasks And Flowers, vintage original 1984 oil painting on board by Edward Marecak (1919-1993), semi abstract, cubist style painting of tribal mas...Category
1980s Abstract Abstract Paintings
MaterialsOil, Board
- Diana and the Three Fates, Vintage 1970s Semi Abstract Figural Oil PaintingBy Edward MarecakLocated in Denver, CODiana and the Three Fates, vintage 1970s semi abstract oil painting on board by 20th century Denver artist, Edward Marecak (1919-1993). Female nude figure of the the Roman virgin goddess, Diana, the protector of childbirth reclining with vases of flowers and the Three Fates looking on. Semi abstract, cubist style painting in bright colors of pink, fuchsia, green, yellow, orange, blue, brown, purple and red. Unframed, custom framing is available. In situ photos are frame mocks ups, the piece is currently unframed. Painting is clean and in very good vintage condition - please contact us for a detailed condition report. Provenance: Estate of Edward Marecak Expedited and international shipping is available - please contact us for a quote. About the Artist: 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. During junior high he painted scenery for puppet shows of "Peter and the Wolf," awakening his interest in art. In his senior year in high school he did Cézanne-inspired watercolors of Ohio barns at seventy-five cents apiece for the National Youth Administration. They 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. A center of innovative work in architecture, art and design with an educational approach built on a mentorship model, it has been home to some of the world’s most renowned designers and artists, including Eero Saarinen, Charles Eames, Daniel Libeskind and Harry Bertoia. Marecak’s studies at Cranbrook with painter Zoltan Sepeshy and sculptor Carl Milles were interrupted by U.S. army service in the Aleutian Islands during World War II. Following his military discharge, Marecak studied on the G.I. Bill at the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center from 1946 to 1950, having previously met its director, Boardman Robinson, conducting a seminar in mural painting at the Cleveland Institute of Art. Although he did not work with Robinson at the Fine Arts Center, who had become quite ill - retiring in 1947 - he studied Robinson’s specialty of mural painting before leaving to briefly attend the Cranbrook Academy in 1947. That same year he returned to the Fine Arts Center, studying painting with Jean Charlot and Mary Chenoweth, and lithography with Lawrence Barrett with whom he produced some 132 images during 1948-49. At the Fine Arts Center he met his future wife, Donna Fortin, whom he married in 1947. Also a Midwesterner, she had taken night art courses at Hull House in Chicago, later studying at the Art Institute of Chicago with the encouragement of artist Edgar Britton. After World War II she studied with him from 1946 to 1949 at the Fine Arts Center. (He had moved to Colorado Springs to treat his tuberculosis.) Ed Marecak also became good friends with Britton, later collaborating with him on the design of large stained glass windows for a local church. In 1950-51 Marecak returned to the Cleveland Institute of Art to complete his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree. A year later he was invited to conduct a summer class at the University of Colorado in Boulder, confirming his interest in the teaching profession. In 1955 he received his teaching certificate from the University of Denver. Vance Kirkland, the head of its art department, helped him get a teaching job with the Denver Public Schools so that he and his family could remain in the Mile High City. For the next twenty-five years he taught art at Skinner, Grove, East, George Washington and Morey Junior High Schools. Prior to coming to Colorado, Marecak did watercolors resembling those of Winslow Homer, John Singer Sargent and Charles Burchfield. However, once in Colorado Springs he decided to destroy much of his earlier ouevre, embarking on a totally new direction unlike anything he had previously done. Initially, in the 1940s he was influenced by surrealist imagery and Paul Klee, and in the West by Indian petroglyphs and Kachinas. His first one-person show at the Garrett Gallery in Colorado Springs in 1949 featured paintings and lithographs rendered in the style of Magic Realism and referential abstraction. The pieces, including an oil Witch with Pink Dish...Category
1970s Abstract Abstract Paintings
MaterialsOil, Board
You May Also Like
- "Fish Cleaners"By Vaclav VytlacilLocated in Lambertville, NJSigned & Dated LR (Highly exhibited) The New York Times, Sunday October 30, 1949 by Howard Devree. "Both as teacher and as painter Vaclav Vytlacil has been a decided force in contem...Category
20th Century Abstract Abstract Paintings
MaterialsOil, Board
- Lucid Dreams SculptureBy John GrandeLocated in New York, NYMixed Media painted sculpture. Vibrant colors. About the artist: John Grande is a New York-based artist who reflects upon modern and contemporary culture with his constructed pa...Category
2010s Abstract Expressionist Abstract Sculptures
MaterialsOil, Board
- American DreamBy John GrandeLocated in New York, NYMixed Media homage to the American Dream. About the artist: John Grande is a New York-based artist who reflects upon modern and contemporary culture with his constructed paintings,...Category
2010s Abstract Expressionist Mixed Media
MaterialsOil, Spray Paint, Board
$32,000 - "Lower Manhattan"By Vaclav VytlacilLocated in Lambertville, NJSigned & dated 1940 lower left. Vaclav Vytlacil (1892-1984) He was born to Czechoslovakian parents in 1892 in New York City. Living in Chicago as a youth, he took classes at the S...Category
1940s Abstract Abstract Paintings
MaterialsOil, Board
- "Sea and Sky, Deer Isle"By Mercedes MatterLocated in Lambertville, NJJim’s of Lambertville is proud to offer this artwork by: Best known as a painter of abstract still life and founder of the New York Studio School, Mercedes Matter was also a disting...Category
Mid-20th Century Abstract Abstract Paintings
MaterialsCanvas, Oil, Board
- "After Work"By Vaclav VytlacilLocated in Lambertville, NJJim’s of Lambertville is proud to offer this artwork. Signed lower right Vaclav Vytlacil (1892-1984) He was born to Czechoslovakian parents in 1892 in New York City. Living in C...Category
20th Century Abstract Expressionist Abstract Paintings
MaterialsOil, Board