Werner Hofmann (8 August 1928 in

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

– 13 March 2013 in

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

) was an Austrian art historian, cultural journalist, writer, curator and museum director, who is "considered by his colleagues as one of the most distinguished European scholars of modern art and its ideology."

Life and work

Hofmann was the son of Leopold Hofmann and Anna Visvader. From 1947 to 1949, he studied

art history Art history is the study of Work of art, artistic works made throughout human history. Among other topics, it studies art’s formal qualities, its impact on societies and cultures, and how artistic styles have changed throughout history. Tradit ...

at the universities of

and

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

, where he completed a Ph.D. dissertation on the "Graphische Gestaltungsweise von

Honoré Daumier Honoré-Victorin Daumier (; February 26, 1808 – February 10 or 11, 1879) was a French painter, sculptor, and printmaker, whose many works offer commentary on the social and political life in France, from the July Revolution, Revolution of 1830 ...

". From 1950 to 1955 he worked as an assistant at the

Albertina The Albertina is a museum in the Innere Stadt (First District) of Vienna, Austria. It houses one of the largest and most important print rooms in the world with approximately 65,000 drawings and approximately 1 million old master prints, as well ...

in Vienna. At that time, he was also a visiting professor at

Barnard College Barnard College is a Private college, private Women's colleges in the United States, women's Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college affiliated with Columbia University in New York City. It was founded in 1889 by a grou ...

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 ...

in New York. In 1960, he published his groundbreaking study on 19th-century European art, ''Das Irdische Paradies: Kunst im 19. Jahrhundert'', which was soon translated into English. In it, he explained 19th-century art out of its opposing themes rather than in a chronological manner. In 1964 he was a visiting professor at the

University of California at Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after the Anglo-Irish philosopher George Berkele ...

. In 1962, Hofmann was the founding director of Vienna's ''Museum of the 20th Century'', which he ran until 1969 – today

mumok Mumok (from the full name ; "Museum of modern art, Ludwig Foundation, Vienna") is a museum in the Museumsquartier in Vienna, Austria. The museum has a collection of 10,000 modern and contemporary art works, including major works from Andy Warh ...

(''Museum Moderner Kunst Stiftung Ludwig Wien''). From 1969 to 1990 he was director of the

Hamburger Kunsthalle The Hamburger Kunsthalle is the art museum of the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg, Germany. It is one of the largest art museums in the country. It consists of three connected buildings, dating from 1869 (main building), 1921 (Kuppelsaal) and ...

. From 1981 to 1982, he held a visiting professorship at

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

Cambridge, Massachusetts Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. It is a suburb in the Greater Boston metropolitan area, located directly across the Charles River from Boston. The city's population as of the 2020 United States census, ...

. Hofmann curated famous "Kunst um 1800" exhibitions at the Hamburger Kunsthalle on

Caspar David Friedrich Caspar David Friedrich (; 5 September 1774 – 7 May 1840) was a German Romanticism, German Romantic Landscape painting, landscape painter, generally considered the most important German artist of his generation, whose often symbolic, and anti ...

Philipp Otto Runge Philipp Otto Runge (; 1777–1810) was a German artist, draftsman, painter, and color theorist. Runge and Caspar David Friedrich are often regarded as the leading painters of the German Romantic movement.Koerner, Joseph Leo. 1990. ''Caspar Davi ...

William Blake William Blake (28 November 1757 – 12 August 1827) was an English poet, painter, and printmaker. Largely unrecognised during his life, Blake has become a seminal figure in the history of the Romantic poetry, poetry and visual art of the Roma ...

Henry Fuseli Henry Fuseli ( ; ; 7 February 1741 – 17 April 1825) was a Swiss painter, draughtsman, and writer on art who spent much of his life in Britain. Many of his successful works depict supernatural experiences, such as '' The Nightmare''. He pr ...

John Flaxman John Flaxman (6 July 1755 – 7 December 1826) was a British sculptor and draughtsman, and a leading figure in British and European Neoclassicism. Early in his career, he worked as a modeller for Josiah Wedgwood's pottery. He spent several yea ...

J. M. W. Turner Joseph Mallord William Turner (23 April 177519 December 1851), known in his time as William Turner, was an English Romantic painter, printmaker and watercolourist. He is known for his expressive colouring, imaginative landscapes and turbu ...

and

Francisco de Goya Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes (; ; 30 March 1746 – 16 April 1828) was a Spanish romantic painter and printmaker. He is considered the most important Spanish artist of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. His paintings, drawings, a ...

and also exhibitions on contemporary artists such as

Franz Erhard Walther Franz Erhard Walther (born July 22, 1939, in Fulda, Germany) is an interdisciplinary installation and conceptual artist known for his fabric objects and activations. Early life and education Born in 1939 in Fulda, Walther studied successively at t ...

Joseph Beuys Joseph Heinrich Beuys ( ; ; 12 May 1921 – 23 January 1986) was a German artist, teacher, performance artist, and Aesthetics, art theorist whose work reflected concepts of humanism and sociology. With Heinrich Böll, , Caroline Tisdall, Rober ...

and

Georg Baselitz Georg Baselitz (born 23 January 1938) is a German Painting, painter, Sculpture, sculptor and Graphic arts, graphic artist. In the 1960s he became well known for his Figurative art, figurative, expressive paintings. In 1969 he began painting his ...

, which are "regarded as milestones in the history of exhibitions at the Hamburger Kunsthalle and for German art museums.""Werner Hofmann gestorben"
'' art: Das Kunstmagazin'', 14 March 2013 Hofmann is known for having connected two schools of art history: the Vienna School with the Hamburg School. According to the

Dictionary of Art Historians The ''Dictionary of Art Historians'' (DAH) is an online encyclopedia of topics relating to art historians, art critics and their dictionaries. The mission of the project is to provide free, reliable, English-language information on published art h ...

, his "work was highly interdisciplinary, drawing examples from music, philosophy and literature to elucidate what were in many cases well-known works of art in new ways. This non-linear, a-historical (but not anti-historical) view of art history influenced a generation of modernist art historians who viewed their art works thematically rather than as a series of style changes." Still full of energy and having a new project on "Kunstkammern" and

Julius von Schlosser Julius Alwin Franz Georg Andreas Ritter von Schlosser (23 September 1866, Vienna – 1 December 1938, Vienna) was an Austrian art historian and an important member of the Vienna School of Art History. According to Ernst Gombrich, he was "One of th ...

's work on the same subject in mind, Hofmann died of a heart attack in a hospital.

Awards

* 1990:

Commandeur Commander (commonly abbreviated as Cmdr.) is a common naval officer rank as well as a job title in many armies. Commander is also used as a rank or title in other formal organizations, including several police forces. In several countries, t ...

de l'

Ordre des Arts et des Lettres The Order of Arts and Letters () is an order of France established on 2 May 1957 by the Minister of Culture. Its supplementary status to the was confirmed by President Charles de Gaulle in 1963. Its purpose is the recognition of significant ...

* 1991: Sigmund-Freud-Preis für wissenschaftliche Prosa * 1992:

Preis der Stadt Wien für Geisteswissenschaften Preis der Stadt Wien für Geisteswissenschaften or Prize of the City of Vienna for the Humanities is a prize awarded by the city of Vienna, Austria, awarded annually since 1947 for outstanding contributions in the humanities. It is worth 10,000 E ...

* 2008:

Aby Warburg Prize The Aby Warburg Prize (German ''Aby Warburg-Preis''; formerly ''Aby M. Warburg-Preis'') is a science prize of the city of Hamburg. It was established in 1979. Since 1980, it is donated by the senate of the city for excellence in the humanities an ...

Select publications

* ''Die Karikatur von Leonardo bis Picasso''. Hamburg 1956. ** Translated into English as ''Caricature from Leonardo to Picasso''. London 1957. * ''Zeichen und Gestalt: Die Malerei des 20. Jahrhunderts''. Frankfurt am Main 1957. * ''Die Plastik des 20. Jahrhunderts''. Frankfurt am Main 1958. * ''

Henry Moore Henry Spencer Moore (30 July 1898 – 31 August 1986) was an English artist. He is best known for his semi-abstract art, abstract monumental Bronze sculpture, bronze sculptures which are located around the world as public works of art. Moore ...

: Schriften und Skulpturen''. Frankfurt am Main 1959. * ''Das irdische Paradies: Kunst im 19. Jahrhundert''. Munich 1960. ** Translated into English as ''Art in the Nineteenth Century'', London 1961, and as ''The Earthly Paradise: Art in the Nineteenth Century'', New York 1961. * ''L'ouuvre graphique de

Georges Braque Georges Braque ( ; ; 13 May 1882 – 31 August 1963) was a major 20th-century List of French artists, French painter, Collage, collagist, Drawing, draughtsman, printmaker and sculptor. His most notable contributions were in his alliance with ...

''. Lausanne 1959. ** German edition: ''Georges Braque: Das graphische Werk''. Stuttgart 1961. * ''Grundlagen der modernen Kunst: Eine Einführung in ihre symbolischen Formen'' Stuttgart 1966. Fourth edition, 2003. * ''Von der Nachahmung zur Wirklichkeit: Die schöpferische Befreiung der Kunst 1890–1917''. Cologne 1974. **English edition: ''Turning Points in 20th Century Art''. London 1969. * ''Kunst und Politik: Über die gesellschaftliche Konsequenz des schöpferischen Handelns''. Cologne 1969. * ''

Gustav Klimt Gustav Klimt (14 July 1862 – 6 February 1918) was an Austrian symbolist painter and a founding member of the Vienna Secession movement. His work helped define the Art Nouveau style in Europe. Klimt is known for his paintings, murals, sket ...

und die Wiener Jahrhundertwende''. Salzburg 1970. New edition, Hamburg 2008. ** English edition: ''Gustav Klimt''. Greenwich, CT 1972. * ''Nana: Mythos und Wirklichkeit''. Cologne 1973. * ''Marsyas und Apoll''. Munich 1973. * ''Ossian und die Kunst um 1800''. Exhibition catalog, Hamburger Kunsthalle 1974. * ''Das irdische Paradies: Motive und Ideen des 19. Jahrhunderts''. Munich 1974. * ''Caspar David Friedrich: Kunst um 1800''. Exhibition catalog, Hamburger Kunsthalle, 14 September – 3 November 1974. * (with Gert Schiff), ''Johann Heinrich Füssli, 1741–1825''. Munich 1974. * ''Henry Fuseli, 1741–1825''. Exhibition catalog, Hamburger Kunsthalle and Tate Gallery, London 1975. * ''William Blake, 1757–1827''. Exhibition catalog, Hamburger Kunsthalle 1975. * ''William Turner und die Landschaft seiner Zeit''. Exhibition catalog, Hamburger Kunsthalle 1976. * ''Runge in seiner Zeit''. Exhibition catalog, Hamburger Kunsthalle 1977. * ''John Flaxman: Mythologie und Industrie''. Exhibition catalog, Hamburger Kunsthalle 1979. * ''Bruchlinien: Aufsätze zur Kunst des 19. Jahrhunderts''. Munich 1979. * ''Gegenstimmen. Aufsätze zur Kunst des 20. Jahrhunderts''. Frankfurt am Main 1979. * ''Daumier et ses amis républicains''. Exhibition catalog, Musée Cantini, Marseille 1979. * ''Goya: Das Zeitalter der Revolutionen, 1789–1830''. Exhibition catalog, Hamburger Kunsthalle 1980. * ''Menzel, der Beobachter''. Exhibition catalog, Hamburger Kunsthalle 1982. * ''Luther und die Folgen für die Kunst''. Exhibition catalog. Hamburger Kunsthalle 1983. * ''Pariser Leben: Toulouse-Lautrec und seine Welt''. Exhibition catalog. Hamburger Kunsthalle, 1985–1986. * ''Eva und die Zukunft: Das Bild der Frau seit der Französischen Revolution''. Exhibition catalog. Hamburger Kunsthalle 1986. * (with Christoph Stöltzl), ''Künstler sehen Frieden und Krieg''. Exhibition catalog. Hamburger Kunsthalle 1987. * ''Anhaltspunkte: Studien zur Kunst und Kunsttheorie''. Frankfurt am Main 1989. * ''Europa 1789: Aufklärung, Verklärung, Verfall''. Exhibition catalog, Hamburger Kunsthalle 1989. * ''Das entzweite Jahrhundert, 1750–1830''. Munich 1995. * ''Wie Deutsch ist die deutsche Kunst? Eine Streitschrift''. Leipzig 1999. * ''Caspar David Friedrich: Naturwirklichkeit und Kunstwahrheit''. Munich 2000. * ''Goya: Vom Himmel durch die Welt zur Hölle''. Munich 2003. ** English edition: ''Goya: To Every Story there Belongs Another''. London and New York 2003. * ''Daumier und Deutschland''. Berlin 2004. * ''Die gespaltene Moderne: Aufsätze zur Kunst''. Munich 2004. * ''Degas und sein Jahrhundert''. Munich 2007. * ''Phantasiestücke: Über das Phantastische in der Kunst''. Munich 2010. * ''Die Schönheit ist eine Linie: 13 Variationen über ein Thema''. Munich 2014.

References

External links

Dictionary of Art Historians: Hofmann, Werner
* * *
ORF: 80. Geburtstag des Kunsthistorikers Werner Hofmann
*
Willibald Sauerländer, "Nachruf auf Werner Hofmann".

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hofmann, Werner Austrian art historians 1928 births 2013 deaths

Life and work

Awards

Select publications

Further reading

References

External links