Autumn Gold 1957

Hans Hofmann made this painting, Autumn Gold, using oil on canvas. The colors are just smashing, aren't they? It’s like he's wrestling with the paint, pushing it around to make something both chaotic and balanced, all at once. Look at how he applies the paint, thick and juicy, almost sculptural. You can practically see the marks of the brush, the strokes pulling and pushing the colors into each other. The lower portion has these rich reds that feel like a sunset bleeding into the earth, they are grounded and earthy. Then your eye is drawn to the brighter patches of yellow, blue and green. It's like he's got these little rectangles of color pushing against each other, creating this push and pull, tension and release. Hofmann's exploration of abstract space reminds me a bit of Mondrian, but, unlike Mondrian, Hofmann cannot help himself and goes for the emotion, the feeling, and the sheer visceral pleasure of laying down paint.