Karl Hoffmann (1893–1972) — attribué à - Portrait de jeune femme

Very beautiful portrait of a young woman, attributed to the Viennese painter Karl Hoffmann (1893–1972), dated 1936, an important artist on the Austrian art scene between the wars.

The work captivates with the elegance of the model and with an execution of great freedom. The face is built with bold and assertive brushstrokes, sometimes almost geometric, which give the figure a remarkable presence. The brushwork, particularly visible in the treatment of the face and hair, lends the whole piece a powerful expressive force while maintaining great elegance.

Trained at the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna, Hoffmann opened his own painting school as early as 1920 and actively participated in Viennese artistic life. A member of the Wiener Künstlerhaus and of the Künstlerbund “Segantini,” he exhibited regularly in Vienna during the interwar period.

In the very year of this work, the Viennese critic Arthur Roessler, commenting on the autumn exhibition of 1936, underlined the firmness of Hoffmann’s drawing as well as the power of his color and his particular talent for portraiture. This canvas thus sits within a particularly interesting period of his production.

Today his work is represented notably in the collections of the Belvedere in Vienna and the Artothek of the Republic. A retrospective devoted to him was also held in Vienna in 2007.

The canvas shows a few areas of paint loss requiring restoration. These do not, however, diminish the expressive force of the work or the remarkable quality of its handling.

Oil on canvas — 42 × 52.5 cm
Dimensions with frame: 49 × 58 cm