Tom Hops (1906–1976) - Ohne Titel

Tom Hops, City View, hand-signed and dated, Lithograph 1963
Artist: Tom Hops
Title: Untitled
Condition: Very good
Technique: Lithography
Width: 53.8 cm
Height: 39 cm
Framing: Unrestrained
Material: paper
Year: 1963
Signature: Signed (pencil)
Country: Germany
Era: 1960-1970

City view with river and ships

Sheet size approximately 53.8 × 39 cm. Image size approximately 29 × 19.5 cm.

Very good condition; only very slight creases in the edge areas and light discoloration in the paper (see illustrations).

Tom Hops (actually Walter Tom Hops, 1906–1976) was a German painter, draftsman, and graphic artist, best known for his color-rich landscapes as well as city, harbor, and architectural views—especially motifs from Hamburg. Born and died in Hamburg, he is regarded as a formative figure of postwar Northern German painting with substantial public and institutional presence.
After completing an commercial apprenticeship, Hops went to sea in 1926/27; in 1928 he finally decided in Berlin to pursue painting and largely taught himself after a rejection by the Prussian Academy of Arts. Stylistically, his work foregrounds clear, often sketchy-direct drawing and a brilliant color palette; he worked, among other media, in oil, watercolor, gouache, and graphics, and also realized art in architecture (e.g., ceramic/glass-related works). Awards such as the Dürer Prize of the City of Nuremberg (1943), the Ernst-Reuter Prize (1959), and the Edwin Scharff Prize of the City of Hamburg (1960) mark his recognition; in 1974 he was appointed professor.
Tom Hops is verifiably represented in public collections, including, among others, the Hamburger Kunsthalle, the Altona Museum, the Kunsthalle Bremen, the Stadtmuseum Warleberger Hof (Kiel), as well as other Northern German museum holdings; corporate/institutional collections are also listed. Solo exhibitions are documented, among others, at the Hamburger Kunsthalle (1956); it is also reported that in 1954 he was the first Hamburg painter after the war to be presented in a New York gallery.