About This Artwork

Hans Hofmann
American, born Germany, 1880-1966

Blue Rhythm, 1950

Oil on canvas
121.9 x 91.4 cm (48 x 36 in.), unframed
Titled on verso; upper left in pencil: “Blue rythme 36 x 48 Canvas”
Gift of Society for Contemporary American Art, 1952.200

Exhibition, Publication and Ownership Histories

Exhibition History

New York, Samuel M. Kootz Gallery, Hans Hofmann, October 24–November 13, 1950, cat. 12.

Chicago, Society for Contemporary American Art, The Art Institute of Chicago, 12th Annual Exhibition, 1952, (no cat. found).

Colorado Springs, Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center, New Accessions USA, July 1–September 5, 1954, cat. 9, ill.

Chicago, The David and Alfred Smart Gallery, Abstract Expressionism: A Tribute to Harold Rosenberg: Paintings and Drawings from Chicago Collections, October 11–November 25, 1979, cat. 18.

New York, Whitney Museum of American Art, Hans Hofmann, June 20–September 16, 1990, p. 96; traveled to Miami, Center for the Fine Arts, November, 1990–January, 1991, and Norfolk, Virginia, The Chrysler Museum, February–April, 1991.

Publication History

Art Institute of Chicago, Paintings in the Art Institute of Chicago: A Catalogue of the Picture Collection (1961), p. 218.

Hans Hofmann, Hans Hofmann: With An Introduction by Sam Hunter and Five Essays by Hans Hofmann (Harry N. Abrams, 1964), pl. 27.

Society for Contemporary American Art, The Art Institute of Chicago, 26 Annual Exhibition by the Society for Contemporary American Art (1966), ill. (Not in exhibition).

Society for Contemporary Art, The Art Institute of Chicago, Society for Contemporary Art: 1940-1980 (1980), color ill.

Society for Contemporary Art, The Art Institute of Chicago, Society for Contemporary Art: 1940-2000 (2000), color ill.

Ownership History

Samuel M. Kootz Gallery, New York, by 1950; sold to Society for Contemporary American Art in 1950; given by them to the Art Institute, 1952.