Untitled 1928

Hans Hofmann made this untitled artwork using ink, creating a world of orange and black. The ink must have flowed quickly from the pen, because there's a real feeling of spontaneity and looseness here. I can just imagine the artist, outside perhaps, quickly trying to capture the essence of the landscape; the forms are simplified, even childlike, in their directness. What was he thinking as he put pen to paper? Was he trying to capture the way the light fell on the building, the texture of the trees? I love how the dark, thick lines almost vibrate against the warm orange ground. You can see his energy, the movement of his hand, the quick decisions that he was making with each stroke. Artists like Hofmann are in conversation with each other across time, riffing off the same ideas, challenging each other. For me, this piece captures painting’s ability to be a form of embodied expression that embraces ambiguity.