Hans Hofmann (March 21, 1880 – February 17, 1966) was a German-born American abstract expressionist painter.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hans_Hofmann
Hofmann's work is distinguished by a rigorous concern with pictorial structure, spatial illusion, and color relationships.
His completely abstract works date from the 1940s. Hofmann believed that abstract art was a way to get at what was really important. He famously stated that "the ability to simplify means to eliminate the unnecessary so that the necessary may speak".
As a beginning art student I was introduced to the works and books by Hans Hoffmann. The first book that I was assigned in my freshman year paining class was Hofmann’s “Form and Color in the Creative Process” which left an influence on me throughout art school and beyond.
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