Malvina Hoffman
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Malvina Cornell Hoffman (June 15, 1885July 10, 1966) was an American
sculptor Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...
and author, well known for her life-size bronze sculptures of people. She also worked in plaster and marble. Hoffman created portrait busts of working-class people and significant individuals. She was particularly known for her sculptures of dancers, such as
Anna Pavlova Anna Pavlovna Pavlova. (born Anna Matveyevna Pavlova; – 23 January 1931) was a Russian prima ballerina. She was a principal artist of the Imperial Russian Ballet and the Ballets Russes of Sergei Diaghilev, but is most recognized for creating ...
. Her sculpture series of culturally diverse people, entitled '' Hall of the Races of Mankind'', was a popular permanent exhibition at the
Field Museum of Natural History The Field Museum of Natural History (FMNH), also known as The Field Museum, is a natural history museum in Chicago, Illinois, and is one of the largest such museums in the world. The museum is popular for the size and quality of its educationa ...
in Chicago. It was featured at the
Century of Progress A Century of Progress International Exposition, also known as the Chicago World's Fair, was a world's fair held in the city of Chicago, Illinois, United States, from 1933 to 1934. The fair, registered under the Bureau International des Exposit ...
International Exposition at the Chicago World's Fair of 1933. She was commissioned to execute commemorative monuments and was awarded many prizes and honors, including a membership to the National Sculpture Society. In 1925, she was elected into the
National Academy of Design The National Academy of Design is an honorary association of American artists, founded in New York City in 1825 by Samuel Morse, Asher Durand, Thomas Cole, Frederick Styles Agate, Martin E. Thompson, Charles Cushing Wright, Ithiel Town, an ...
as an Associate member and became a full Academician in 1931. Many of her portraits of individuals are among the collection of the New York Historical Society. She maintained a
salon Salon may refer to: Common meanings * Beauty salon A beauty salon or beauty parlor is an establishment that provides Cosmetics, cosmetic treatments for people. Other variations of this type of business include hair salons, spas, day spas, ...
, a social gathering of artistic and personal acquaintances, at her Sniffen Court studio for many years. She was highly skilled in foundry techniques, often casting her own works. Hoffman published a definitive work on historical and technical aspects of bronze casting, ''Sculpture Inside and Out'', in 1939.


Early life and education

Malvina Hoffman was born in New York City, the fourth of six children of the concert pianist and composer, Richard Hoffman, and Fidelia Marshall (Lamson) Hoffman. She was named after a maternal aunt, Malvina Helen (Lamson) Cornell, who would later survive the sinking of the RMS ''Titanic''. Her mother, also a pianist, presided over her education at home until she was 10 years of age. The Hoffman's regularly entertained artists and musicians in their home. As a young girl, she met
Swami Vivekananda Swami Vivekananda () (12 January 1863 – 4 July 1902), born Narendranath Datta, was an Indian Hindus, Hindu monk, philosopher, author, religious teacher, and the chief disciple of the Indian mystic Ramakrishna. Vivekananda was a major figu ...
when he lived and taught in New York City, and several of her later sculptures, like that of
Sri Ramakrishna Ramakrishna (18 February 1836 – 16 August 1886——— —), also called Ramakrishna Paramahansa (; ; ), born Ramakrishna Chattopadhay,M's original Bengali diary page 661, Saturday, 13 February 1886''More About Ramakrishna'' by Swami Prab ...
, are located at the Ramakrishna-Vivekananda Center of New York. Hoffman attended Veltin School for Girls, Chapin, and Brearley private schools. While at Brearley, she took evening classes at the Woman's School for Applied Design and the
Art Students League of New York The Art Students League of New York is an art school in the American Fine Arts Society in Manhattan, New York City. The Arts Students League is known for its broad appeal to both amateurs and professional artists. Although artists may study f ...
. She studied painting with John White Alexander in 1906, and also with Harper Pennington. Hoffman developed her skill as an artist during her studies with
George Grey Barnard George Grey Barnard (May 24, 1863 – April 24, 1938), often written George Gray Barnard, was an American sculptor who trained in Paris. He is especially noted for his heroic sized ''Struggle of the Two Natures in Man'' at the Metropolitan Museum ...
, Herbert Adams, and
Gutzon Borglum John Gutzon de la Mothe Borglum (March 25, 1867 – March 6, 1941) was an American sculpture, sculptor best known for his work on Mount Rushmore. He is also associated with various other public works of art across the U.S., including Stone Moun ...
. She worked as an assistant to sculptor Alexander Phimister Proctor at his
MacDougal Street MacDougal Street is a one-way street in the Greenwich Village Greenwich Village, or simply the Village, is a neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City, bounded by 14th Street (Manhattan), 14th Street to the nort ...
studio in
Greenwich Village Greenwich Village, or simply the Village, is a neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City, bounded by 14th Street (Manhattan), 14th Street to the north, Broadway (Manhattan), Broadway to the east, Houston Street to the s ...
in 1907. In 1908, Hoffman traveled to Paris with Katharine Rhoades and Marion H. Beckett and studied art there. In 1909 she made a bust of her father, her first finished sculpture, two weeks prior to his death. It was exhibited at the National Academy the following year. Also in 1910, she won an honorable mention for a sculpture of her future husband, Samuel Grimson, at the
Paris Salon The Salon (), or rarely Paris Salon (French: ''Salon de Paris'' ), beginning in 1667 was the official art exhibition of the in Paris. Between 1748 and 1890 it was arguably the greatest annual or biennial art event in the Western world. At the ...
. Hoffman gravitated towards sculpture due to the artistic freedom she felt when creating a three-dimensional work of art. After her father's death in 1910, Hoffman moved to Europe with her mother. They first visited London, where they attended the ballet of
Alexander Glazunov Alexander Konstantinovich Glazunov ( – 21 March 1936) was a Russian composer, music teacher, and conductor of the late Russian Romantic period. He was director of the Saint Petersburg Conservatory between 1905 and 1928 and was instrumental i ...
's '' Autumn Bacchanale''. Hoffman was inspired by the combination of motion and control exhibited by Mikhail Mordkin and
Anna Pavlova Anna Pavlovna Pavlova. (born Anna Matveyevna Pavlova; – 23 January 1931) was a Russian prima ballerina. She was a principal artist of the Imperial Russian Ballet and the Ballets Russes of Sergei Diaghilev, but is most recognized for creating ...
. Mother and daughter visited Italy before moving to Paris. She worked as a studio assistant for Janet Scudder. During the nights she studied at Académie Colarossi. She studied with Emanuele Rosales and after five unsuccessful attempts, she eventually was accepted as a student by
Auguste Rodin François Auguste René Rodin (; ; 12 November 184017 November 1917) was a French sculptor generally considered the founder of modern sculpture. He was schooled traditionally and took a craftsman-like approach to his work. Rodin possessed a u ...
. She caught his attention when she quoted a poem that he attempted to remember by
Alfred de Musset Alfred Louis Charles de Musset-Pathay (; 11 December 1810 – 2 May 1857) was a French dramatist, poet, and novelist.His names are often reversed "Louis Charles Alfred de Musset": see "(Louis Charles) Alfred de Musset" (bio), Biography.com, 2007 ...
. During their lessons, he advised her, "Do not be afraid of realism". She made a trip to
Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...
in 1912 to dissect bodies at the College of Physicians and Surgeons at
Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...
. From Rosales and Rodin, she learned about bronze casting, chasing, and finishing at foundries. The Hoffman women lived in Paris until the outbreak of
World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
in 1914. In 1912, Hoffman, with her friend and fellow artist, the suffragist Ida Sedwick Proper, staged an independent exhibition of their own work.


Career


Dancers

Hoffman became famous internationally for her sculptures of ballet dancers, such as Vaslav Nijinsky and Anna Pavlova, who often posed for her. In 1911, she made ''Russian Dancers'', which was exhibited that year at the National Academy and the following year at the
Paris Salon The Salon (), or rarely Paris Salon (French: ''Salon de Paris'' ), beginning in 1667 was the official art exhibition of the in Paris. Between 1748 and 1890 it was arguably the greatest annual or biennial art event in the Western world. At the ...
. She made a plaster bust, the last work she made of Pavlova, in 1923. Hoffman also created friezes and other works that captured the movements of dancers. In 1912, she made ''Bacchanale Russe''. In 1917, a version of it won the National Academy's Julia A. Shaw Memorial Prize and the next year a large casting of the sculpture was on display in Paris at the Luxembourg Gardens. She has been called "America's Rodin".


World War I

Hoffman helped to organize, and was the American representative, for the French war charity, ''Appui aux Artistes'' that assisted needy artists. She also organized the American-Yugoslav relief fund for children. While working for the Red Cross during World War I, Hoffman traveled to
Serbia , image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg , national_motto = , image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg , national_anthem = () , image_map = , map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...
. She made a larger-than-life-sized work of Croatian sculptor
Ivan Meštrović Ivan Meštrović (; 15 August 1883 – 16 January 1962) was a Croatian and Yugoslav sculptor, architect, and writer. He was the most prominent modern Croatian sculptor and a leading artistic personality in contemporary Zagreb. He studied at Pa ...
, with whom she studied. Her sister, Helen, was on the board of the
Red Cross The organized International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a Humanitarianism, humanitarian movement with approximately 16million volunteering, volunteers, members, and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ...
, which sent clothing and medical supplies for the Serbian cause. Through her sister, she met Serbian Colonel
Milan Pribićević Milan Pribićević ( sr-Cyrl, Милан Прибићевић) was a Yugoslavs, Yugoslav political activist who nominally led ORJUNA. He had three brothers, Svetozar Pribićević, Adam Pribićević and Valerijan Pribičević,, and nephew Stoyan Pri ...
in 1916, who inspired her when he came to the United States and delivered rousing speeches in which he asked Serbian immigrants to fight to save their homeland. Hoffman, who may have had a romantic relationship with the colonel, had an interest in "powerful, charismatic" people. She once said, "Hero worship formed a major part of my emotional life". He modeled for her sculpture of him entitled ''A Modern Crusader'' (1918). His nephew said that it capture that "he was gaunt and weary. His eyes were deep sunk in their sockets ... Only his firm mouth and his powerful chin showed no trace of the inhuman punishment which his body and soul had received during half a decade of life in the trenches." There are casts at the
Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art, colloquially referred to as the Met, is an Encyclopedic museum, encyclopedic art museum in New York City. By floor area, it is the List of largest museums, third-largest museum in the world and the List of larg ...
,
Smithsonian American Art Museum The Smithsonian American Art Museum (SAAM; formerly the National Museum of American Art) is a museum in Washington, D.C., part of the Smithsonian Institution. Together with its branch museum, the Renwick Gallery, SAAM holds one of the world's lar ...
, and
Art Institute of Chicago The Art Institute of Chicago, founded in 1879, is one of the oldest and largest art museums in the United States. The museum is based in the Art Institute of Chicago Building in Chicago's Grant Park (Chicago), Grant Park. Its collection, stewa ...
. She also created the well known poster ''Serbia needs your help'', based on the Miloje P. Igrutinović's photo of dead Serbian soldiers who had died of hunger and exhaustion on the Greek island of Vido. She made the soldier "live" on the poster and later, as a sort of an artistic installation, posted the soldier's head on the bronze statue of the Saint
Francis of Assisi Giovanni di Pietro di Bernardone ( 1181 – 3 October 1226), known as Francis of Assisi, was an Italians, Italian Mysticism, mystic, poet and Friar, Catholic friar who founded the religious order of the Franciscans. Inspired to lead a Chris ...
in front of the
Mayo Clinic Mayo Clinic () is a Nonprofit organization, private American Academic health science centre, academic Medical centers in the United States, medical center focused on integrated health care, healthcare, Mayo Clinic College of Medicine and Science ...
in
Rochester, Minnesota Rochester is a city in Olmsted County, Minnesota, United States, and its county seat. It is located along rolling bluffs on the Zumbro River's south fork in Southeast Minnesota. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city had a popul ...
. She published her impressions about her visit in the chapter "Hunger in the Balkans" of her book '' Heads and Tales''. The poster ''Serbia needs your help'' later circulated around the United States, including the library of a local politician in Phoenix, Arizona, or in the Navajo reservation. That was where the priest Janko Trbović found it. One reprint of the poster, after an intricate and extended search, was donated by the basketball player
Vlade Divac Vlade Divac ( sr-Cyrl, Владе Дивац, ; born February 3, 1968) is a Serbian professional basketball executive and former player who was most recently the vice president of basketball operations and general manager of the Sacramento King ...
. In 2018, an exhibition ''Who is Malvina Hoffman'' dedicated to her work was opened in
Novi Sad Novi Sad ( sr-Cyrl, Нови Сад, ; #Name, see below for other names) is the List of cities in Serbia, second largest city in Serbia and the capital of the autonomous province of Vojvodina. It is located in the southern portion of the Pannoni ...
, Serbia. It was part of the wider project "Serbia, war and posters" by the state government. The Hoffman exhibition, organized in cooperation with the US embassy in
Belgrade Belgrade is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin, Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. T ...
, later toured the entire country. Among other exhibits, Hoffman's drawings which she made when she visited Serbia in 1919 were also displayed.


Interwar period

In 1919, she created a pedimental sculpture for
Bush House Bush House is a Grade II listed building at the southern end of Kingsway between Aldwych and the Strand in London, England. It was conceived as a major new trade centre by American industrialist Irving T. Bush, and commissioned, designed, ...
in London. The same year, she was in Paris cataloging Rodin's works for the
Musée Rodin The Musée Rodin () of Paris, France, is an art museum that was opened in 1919, primarily dedicated to the works of the French sculptor Auguste Rodin. It has two sites: the Hôtel Biron and surrounding grounds in central Paris, as well as just ...
. In 1929, her first major exhibit was held at the
Grand Central Art Galleries The Grand Central Art Galleries were the exhibition and administrative space of the nonprofit Painters and Sculptors Gallery Association, an artists' cooperative established in 1922 by Walter Leighton Clark together with John Singer Sargent, Edm ...
with 105 works of art in various mediums. During the war, she met the American Red Cross worker John W. Frothingham and his Serbian wife Jelena Lozanić. As member of the American Red Cross, she and Lozanić continued to organize the relief for Serbia (now amalgamated into
Yugoslavia , common_name = Yugoslavia , life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation , p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia , flag_p ...
) during the
Interbellum In the history of the 20th century, the interwar period, also known as the interbellum (), lasted from 11 November 1918 to 1 September 1939 (20 years, 9 months, 21 days) – from the end of World War I (WWI) to the beginning of World War II ( ...
, regularly giving lectures on orphaned Serbian children. She welcomed Croatian sculptor
Ivan Meštrović Ivan Meštrović (; 15 August 1883 – 16 January 1962) was a Croatian and Yugoslav sculptor, architect, and writer. He was the most prominent modern Croatian sculptor and a leading artistic personality in contemporary Zagreb. He studied at Pa ...
, lending him her studio to work. In 1919, at the request of
Herbert Hoover Herbert Clark Hoover (August 10, 1874 – October 20, 1964) was the 31st president of the United States, serving from 1929 to 1933. A wealthy mining engineer before his presidency, Hoover led the wartime Commission for Relief in Belgium and ...
, director of
American Relief Administration American Relief Administration (ARA) was an American Humanitarian aid, relief mission to Europe and later Russian Civil War, post-revolutionary Russia after World War I. Herbert Hoover, future president of the United States, was the program dire ...
, Hoffman travelled to Serbia and Yugoslavia to visit US humanitarian missions throughout the state. That same year she visited the site of the 1389
Battle of Kosovo The Battle of Kosovo took place on 15 June 1389 between an army led by the Serbian Prince Lazar Hrebeljanović and an invading army of the Ottoman Empire under the command of Sultan Murad I. It was one of the largest battles of the Late Middl ...
, as the second recorded American to do so, after John W. Frotingham (some even claim the second foreign visitor in general). After the war, she made the sculpture ''The Sacrifice'', which was dedicated in 1923 at the
Cathedral of St. John the Divine The Cathedral of St. John the Divine (sometimes referred to as St. John's and also nicknamed St. John the Unfinished) is the cathedral of the Episcopal Diocese of New York. It is at 1047 Amsterdam Avenue in the Morningside Heights neighborhoo ...
in New York. In it, the head of a 13th-century crusader lay on the lap of a draped woman. It is a memorial to the late Ambassador of France, Robert Bacon, and alumni of Harvard University who lost their lives during the war. After the Memorial Church at Harvard University was completed in 1932, it was installed there.


''Hall of Man''

In 1929, Hoffman received a telegram from Stanley Field, "Have proposition to make, do you care to consider it? Racial types to be modeled while traveling round the world." The original proposal was to commission four or five artists to create painted plaster figures, as was common at the time, but Hoffman countered with a proposal to do the entire series by herself. Her counter-proposal was accepted, and she was commissioned by the
Field Museum of Natural History The Field Museum of Natural History (FMNH), also known as The Field Museum, is a natural history museum in Chicago, Illinois, and is one of the largest such museums in the world. The museum is popular for the size and quality of its educationa ...
in
Chicago, Illinois Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...
to create anthropologically accurate sculptures of peoples of diverse nationalities and races. Next, she determined to do the entire series in bronze, submitted two initial sculptures, and obtained approval to proceed. Her initial work on the series was done in her Manhattan studio, but then she moved to her studio in Paris, where she could refer to models from the
Paris Colonial Exposition The Paris Colonial Exhibition (or "''Exposition coloniale internationale''", International Colonial Exhibition) was a six-month colonial exhibition held in Paris, France, in 1931 that attempted to display the diverse cultures and immense resour ...
of 1931. She then traveled around the world — including distant places like Africa, India, and Bali — in 1931 to 1932, creating busts and figures of people and taking more than 2,000 photographs. She completed more than 105 sculptures, predominantly in bronze, but also in marble and stone. They included busts and full-length figures of individuals, which were installed at the museum's ''Hall of Man'' in 1933. She documented her travels for the commission in the book, '' Heads and Tales''. It was a popular exhibit at the museum, but some critics considered it a purely anthropological study. During the 1960s, questions began to circulate about the exhibit. According to ''American Historical Review'', "the sculptures in the 'Races of Mankind' had perpetuated an older typological approach by presenting 'race' in the form of literally static bronze figures depicting idealized racial 'types'". The ''Hall of Man'' was deinstalled in 1969, but some of the sculptures remained on display. In 2016, fifty recently conserved sculptures from the ''Mankind'' collection were re-installed at the museum in an exhibition called ''Looking at Ourselves: Rethinking the Sculptures of Malvina Hoffman''.


World War II

As she had during World War I, Hoffman served the
Red Cross The organized International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a Humanitarianism, humanitarian movement with approximately 16million volunteering, volunteers, members, and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ...
and she raised money for the Red Cross and national defense during the war. She again supported Serbia, which was again occupied by Germany. Jointly with the mayor of New York City,
Fiorello La Guardia Fiorello Henry La Guardia (born Fiorello Raffaele Enrico La Guardia; December 11, 1882September 20, 1947) was an American attorney and politician who represented New York in the U.S. House of Representatives and served as the 99th mayor of New Yo ...
, she participated in the fund raising events of organized by Jelena Lozanić, and in sending of the relief to the occupied territory. In 1948, Hoffman created relief sculptures for the walls of the ''American World War II Memorial'' for the Epinal American Cemetery and Memorial in
Vosges The Vosges ( , ; ; Franconian and ) is a range of medium mountains in Eastern France, near its border with Germany. Together with the Palatine Forest to the north on the German side of the border, they form a single geomorphological unit and ...
, France. It is on the site of the
Battle of the Bulge The Battle of the Bulge, also known as the Ardennes Offensive or Unternehmen Die Wacht am Rhein, Wacht am Rhein, was the last major German Offensive (military), offensive Military campaign, campaign on the Western Front (World War II), Western ...
(1944). There are 5,255 American soldiers buried in the cemetery.


Other

She depicted the evolution of medicine in a 13-panel bas relief for Boston's
Joslin Diabetes Center Joslin Diabetes Center is the world's largest diabetes research center, diabetes clinic, and provider of diabetes education. It is located in the Longwood Medical and Academic Area in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. Among the Harvard Med ...
. Hoffman made portrait sculptures, including those of ''
John Muir John Muir ( ; April 21, 1838December 24, 1914), also known as "John of the Mountains" and "Father of the national park, National Parks", was a Scottish-born American naturalist, author, environmental philosopher, botanist, zoologist, glaciologi ...
'', ''
Wendell Willkie Wendell Lewis Willkie (born Lewis Wendell Willkie; February 18, 1892 – October 8, 1944) was an American lawyer, corporate executive and the 1940 History of the Republican Party (United States), Republican nominee for president. Willkie appeale ...
'', ''
Ignacy Jan Paderewski Ignacy Jan Paderewski (;   r 1859– 29 June 1941) was a Polish pianist, composer and statesman who was a spokesman for Polish independence. In 1919, he was the nation's Prime Minister of Poland, prime minister and foreign minister durin ...
'', ''
Henry Clay Frick Henry Clay Frick (December 19, 1849 – December 2, 1919) was an American industrialist, financier, and art patron. He founded the H. C. Frick & Company coke manufacturing company, was chairman of the Carnegie Steel Company and played a major ...
'', and ''
Ivan Meštrović Ivan Meštrović (; 15 August 1883 – 16 January 1962) was a Croatian and Yugoslav sculptor, architect, and writer. He was the most prominent modern Croatian sculptor and a leading artistic personality in contemporary Zagreb. He studied at Pa ...
''. Her works were exhibited often at the National Academy. In 1965, she published ''Yesterday is Tomorrow''. Among her awards are the gold medal she won in 1924 from the National Academy, the gold medal of honor she won in 1962 for ''Mongolian Archer'' from the Allied of Artists of America, and the gold medal of honor that she won in 1964 from the National Sculpture Society. She was awarded five honorary doctorates. Her awards for public service include the French Legion of Honour and the Royal Order of St. Sava III of Yugoslavia. Her work is kept in the permanent collections of many museums worldwide, including the
Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art, colloquially referred to as the Met, is an Encyclopedic museum, encyclopedic art museum in New York City. By floor area, it is the List of largest museums, third-largest museum in the world and the List of larg ...
, the
Detroit Institute of Arts The Detroit Institute of Arts (DIA) is a museum institution located in Midtown Detroit, Michigan. It has list of largest art museums, one of the largest and most significant art collections in the United States. With over 100 galleries, it cove ...
, the
Santa Barbara Museum of Art The Santa Barbara Museum of Art (SBMA) is an art museum located in downtown Santa Barbara, California. Founded in 1941, it is home to both permanent and special collections, the former of which includes Asian art, Asian, Visual arts of the United ...
, the Vero Beach Museum of Art, the
Harvard Art Museums The Harvard Art Museums are part of Harvard University and comprise three museums: the Fogg Museum (established in 1895), the Busch-Reisinger Museum (established in 1903), and the Arthur M. Sackler Museum (established in 1985), and four research ...
, the
University of Michigan Museum of Art The University of Michigan Museum of Art (UMMA) is one of the largest university art museums in the United States, located in Ann Arbor, Michigan, with . Built as a war memorial in 1909 for the university's fallen alumni from the Civil War, Alu ...
, the Dallas Museum of Art, the
Smithsonian American Art Museum The Smithsonian American Art Museum (SAAM; formerly the National Museum of American Art) is a museum in Washington, D.C., part of the Smithsonian Institution. Together with its branch museum, the Renwick Gallery, SAAM holds one of the world's lar ...
, the Nasher Museum of Art, and the
Gilcrease Museum Gilcrease Museum, also known as the Thomas Gilcrease Institute of American History and Art, is a museum northwest of downtown Tulsa, Oklahoma housing the world's largest, most comprehensive collection of art of the American West, as well as a gr ...
.


Personal life

She was married to an Englishman, Samuel Bonarius Grimson, on June 4, 1924. Grimson had been injured by
mustard gas Mustard gas or sulfur mustard are names commonly used for the organosulfur compound, organosulfur chemical compound bis(2-chloroethyl) sulfide, which has the chemical structure S(CH2CH2Cl)2, as well as other Chemical species, species. In the wi ...
and
phosgene Phosgene is an organic chemical compound with the formula . It is a toxic, colorless gas; in low concentrations, its musty odor resembles that of freshly cut hay or grass. It can be thought of chemically as the double acyl chloride analog of ...
during World War I, and his career as a concert violist was ended when his hands were crushed during an accident with a truck during the war. After the war, he collected antique paintings and instruments. He also invented a tube for a color television. Grimson traveled with her during her search for authentic indigenous models for the anthropological series. Hoffman and Grimson divorced in 1936; some speculated that it was due to an affair that she had with the ballerina
Anna Pavlova Anna Pavlovna Pavlova. (born Anna Matveyevna Pavlova; – 23 January 1931) was a Russian prima ballerina. She was a principal artist of the Imperial Russian Ballet and the Ballets Russes of Sergei Diaghilev, but is most recognized for creating ...
. Grimson later married Bettina Warburg, the daughter of Nina Loeb and Paul Warburg, in 1942. She was 16 years his junior. Grimson died in 1955. Hoffman befriended painter
Romaine Brooks Romaine Brooks (born Beatrice Romaine Goddard; May 1, 1874 – December 7, 1970) was an American painter who worked mostly in Paris and Capri. She specialized in portrait painting, portraiture and used a subdued tonal Palette (painting), palette ...
, writer
Gertrude Stein Gertrude Stein (February 3, 1874 – July 27, 1946) was an American novelist, poet, playwright, and art collector. Born in Allegheny, Pennsylvania (now part of Pittsburgh), and raised in Oakland, California, Stein moved to Paris in 1903, and ...
, and ballet dancer
Anna Pavlova Anna Pavlovna Pavlova. (born Anna Matveyevna Pavlova; – 23 January 1931) was a Russian prima ballerina. She was a principal artist of the Imperial Russian Ballet and the Ballets Russes of Sergei Diaghilev, but is most recognized for creating ...
. She held costume parties and balls in her studio, which were reported in the city's society pages. She often spent the summers in a Hartsdale cottage provided to her by Paul Warburg. On July 10, 1966, Malvina Cornell Hoffman died of a heart attack in her studio in Manhattan, which had been purchased by the philanthropist
Mary Williamson Averell Mary Williamson Averell Harriman (July 22, 1851 – November 7, 1932) was an American philanthropist and the wife of railroad executive E. H. Harriman. Born in New York to a successful family, Averell married Harriman in 1879. Averell's father ...
and provided to Hoffman for a low-priced rent.


Gallery

File:Malvina Hoffman, Mort Exquise, 1913.tif, ''Mort Exquise'' (1913) File:BoyAndPantherCub1.jpg, ''Boy and Panther Cub'' (1915) File:Boy and Panther Cub - Cleveland Museum of Art (27848247353).jpg, ''Boy and Panther Cub'', detail (1915) File:Malvina Hoffman, Anglo-American Friendship, Bush House.jpg, ''Anglo-American Friendship'',
Bush House Bush House is a Grade II listed building at the southern end of Kingsway between Aldwych and the Strand in London, England. It was conceived as a major new trade centre by American industrialist Irving T. Bush, and commissioned, designed, ...
(1919) File:The Offering, Malvina Hoffman - circa 1920, sculpture (14784628252).jpg, ''L'Offrande'' (1920) File:Pavlova by Malvina Hoffman.jpg, ''Pavlova'' (1926-1929) File:Malvina Hoffman's "Martinique Woman" IMG 3811.JPG, ''Martinique Woman'' (1927) File:Coal Miners Returning From Work.jpg, ''Coal Miners Returning From Work'' (1939) File:ROM-Ber3.jpg, ''Berber Man'' (1948) File:ROM-Raj8.jpg, ''Rajputana Woman'' (1948) File:ROM-Agh4.jpg, ''Afghan Man'' (1948) File:Bronze figure of Kashmiri in Meditation by Malvina Hoffman Wellcome M0005215.jpg, ''Kashmiri in Meditation''


Notes


References


Further reading

* Connor, Janis, and Joel Rosenkranz, ''Rediscoveries in American Sculpture – Studio Works, 1893–1939'', University of Texas Press, Austin 1989 * Field, Henry, ''The Races of Mankind, Sculptures by Malvina Hoffman'', Anthropology Leaflet 30, Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago 1937 * Hoffman, Malvina, ''Heads and Tales''. Charles Scribner's Sons, NY, NY 1936 * Hoffman, Malvina, ''Sculpture Inside and Out'', Bonanza Books, NY, NY 1939 * Hoffman, Malvina, ''Yesterday Is Tomorrow'', Crown Publishers, Inc. NY, NY 1965 * Kvaran, Einar Einarsson, ''Hunting Hoffman in the Field Museum'', unpublished manuscript * Nishiura, Elizabeth, ''American Battle Monuments – A Guide to Military Cemeteries and Monuments Maintained By the American Battle Monuments Commission'', Omnigraphics, Inc, Detroit, Michigan 1989 * Papanikolas, Theresa and DeSoto Brown, ''Art Deco Hawai'i'', Honolulu, Honolulu Museum of Art, 2014, , p. 79 * Proske, Beatrice Gilman, ''Brookgreen Gardens Sculpture'', Brookgreen Gardens, South Carolina, 1968 * Redman, Samuel J, ''Bone Rooms: From Scientific Racism to Human Prehistory in Museums''. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. 2016.


External links

* * Malvina Hoffman papers, 1897–1984.
Getty Research Institute The Getty Research Institute (GRI), located at the Getty Center in Los Angeles, California, is "dedicated to furthering knowledge and advancing understanding of the visual arts".
, Los Angeles. A nearly complete archive of letters, manuscripts, photographs, diaries, drawings, and films documents Malvina Hoffman's life and her career as a sculptor and writer.
Photo of Malvina Hoffman
by Clara Sipprell, at the Amon Carter Museum of American Art {{DEFAULTSORT:Hoffman, Malvina 20th-century American sculptors 1885 births 1966 deaths 20th-century American women writers Artists from New York City American modern sculptors National Sculpture Society members National Academy of Design members Brearley School alumni Chapin School (Manhattan) alumni Sculptors from New York (state) Writers from Manhattan American salon-holders Members of the American Academy of Arts and Letters 20th-century American women sculptors