GENERAL DESCRIPTION
The straining, athletic forms of this rare marble composition exemplify the importance of the human figure in motion for Malvina Hoffman. Throughout her long and distinguished career, Hoffman chose the body as her focus. After completing sculpture and drawing courses at the Art Students League, Hoffman made frequent trips to Paris starting in 1910 and eventually studied with Auguste Rodin. The famed French sculptor impressed upon her the necessity to master all technical processes of art. Hoffman's interest in figural subjects received early acclaim when her Russian Dancers was shown at the National Academy of Design (New York, NY). Between 1914 and 1924, she worked on a twenty-five-panel frieze (Bacchanale) based on photographs and drawings of Anna Pavlova and her dance partner.
Extended close study of her subjects marked all of Hoffman's work, whether her first successes capturing the performances of ballet legends or her best-known project, the 1930 commission for "The Races of Man" at Chicago's Field Museum of Natural History (opened June 6, 1933). The Chicago work includes approximately 104 sculptures of subjects of all ethnicities, taken from five years of global travel. She also created an "International Dance Fountain" for the New York World's Fair in 1939.
Hoffman authored three books about her art and travels. Sculpture, Inside and Out (1939) offers technical guidance and instruction for sculptors. Heads and Tales in Many Lands (1937) is a travel novel based on her anthropological research for the Field Museum commission. And Yesterday and Tomorrow (1965) is her autobiography, published the year before her death.
Adapted from
William Keyse Rudolph, DMA Label copy (2003.48), May 2005.
NOTES
I corrected the misspelling of artist's last name in TMS from "Hoffmann" to Hoffman and corrected her year of birth to 1885 from 1887 according to the Getty, New York Times, and multiple publications.
I reformatted provenance.
Many, many more bibliographic sources are in the object file that have not been entered into TMS.
The correspondence (circa 2003) in object file suggests that these donors might be willing to make future donations, and Lilian Ostergard is primary heir to Malvina Hoffman's estate.
Artist born (geography)
New York, NY
Artist active (geography)
New York, NY
Paris (France)
This note was routed and reviewed by Sue and changes were made in Evernote. I am removing the routed tag and adding the completed tag because the GDoc has been moved to Queta's folder for review.
Catalogue essays specific to object
Artist/designers
Malvina Hoffman
Cultures
Geography
Produced-New York
Process/materials
marble
Historical periods
Individuals
Subject terms
sculpture
couple
texture
dance
figure
nude
drapery
RELATED OBJECTS
PROVENANCE
Until 1966: Collection of the artist (d. 1966).
From 1966: Her nephew, Charles Lamson Hoffman, bequethed from the above.
Until 2003: His son-in-law and daughter, Derek and Lillian Ostergard, New York, NY, inherited from the above.
From 2003: Dallas Museum of Art, gift from the above.
AUDIO ASSETS
VIDEO ASSETS
IMAGE ASSETS
WEB RESOURCES
ARCHIVAL RESOURCES
FUN FACTS
- Though this work did not enter the DMA's collection until the 21st century, the artist's sculpture had traveled to Dallas on multiple earlier occasions. She had pieces shown in Dallas Art Association exhibitions in 1919, 1922, and 1927.
- Hoffman was close friends with Anna Pavlova, a lead dancer in Sergei Diaghilev's Ballets Russe. The two met in 1914 and remained close until Pavlova's death in 1931.
- After proving herself to be a talented student and competent colleague, Hoffman and Auguste Rodin formed a close friendship. When the First World War threatened his studio and private studio, Hoffman helped him safely store the works away from danger.
TEACHING IDEAS
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Apply to objects where number equals 2003.48
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General Description
The straining, athletic forms of this rare marble composition exemplify the importance of the human figure in motion for Malvina Hoffman. Throughout her long and distinguished career, Hoffman chose the body as her focus. After completing sculpture and drawing courses at the Art Students League, Hoffman made frequent trips to Paris starting in 1910 and eventually studied with Auguste Rodin. The famed French sculptor impressed upon her the necessity to master all technical processes of art. Hoffman's interest in figural subjects received early acclaim when her Russian Dancers was shown at the National Academy of Design (New York, NY). Between 1914 and 1924, she worked on a twenty-five-panel frieze (Bacchanale) based on photographs and drawings of Anna Pavlova and her dance partner.
Extended close study of her subjects marked all of Hoffman's work, whether her first successes capturing the performances of ballet legends or her best-known project, the 1930 commission for "The Races of Man" at Chicago's Field Museum of Natural History (opened June 6, 1933). The Chicago work includes approximately 104 sculptures of subjects of all ethnicities, taken from five years of global travel. She also created an "International Dance Fountain" for the New York World's Fair in 1939.
Hoffman authored three books about her art and travels. Sculpture, Inside and Out (1939) offers technical guidance and instruction for sculptors. Heads and Tales in Many Lands (1937) is a travel novel based on her anthropological research for the Field Museum commission. And Yesterday and Tomorrow (1965) is her autobiography, published the year before her death.
Adapted from
William Keyse Rudolph, DMA Label copy (2003.48), May 2005.
Fun Facts
- Though this work did not enter the DMA's collection until the 21st century, the artist's sculpture had traveled to Dallas on multiple earlier occasions. She had pieces shown in Dallas Art Association exhibitions in 1919, 1922, and 1927.
- Hoffman was close friends with Anna Pavlova, a lead dancer in Sergei Diaghilev's Ballets Russe. The two met in 1914 and remained close until Pavlova's death in 1931.
- After proving herself to be a talented student and competent colleague, Hoffman and Auguste Rodin formed a close friendship. When the First World War threatened his studio and private studio, Hoffman helped him safely store the works away from danger.
Archival Resources
Web Resources
Notes
I corrected the misspelling of artist's last name in TMS from "Hoffmann" to Hoffman and corrected her year of birth to 1885 from 1887 according to the Getty, New York Times, and multiple publications.
I reformatted provenance.
Many, many more bibliographic sources are in the object file that have not been entered into TMS.
The correspondence (circa 2003) in object file suggests that these donors might be willing to make future donations, and Lilian Ostergard is primary heir to Malvina Hoffman's estate.
Artist born (geography)
New York, NY
Artist active (geography)
New York, NY
Paris (France)
This note was routed and reviewed by Sue and changes were made in Evernote. I am removing the routed tag and adding the completed tag because the GDoc has been moved to Queta's folder for review.
Catalogue essays specific to object
Artist/designers
Malvina Hoffman
Cultures
Geography
Produced-New York
Process/materials
marble
Historical periods
Individuals
Subject terms
sculpture
couple
texture
dance
figure
nude
drapery
RELATED OBJECTS
PROVENANCE
Until 1966: Collection of the artist (d. 1966).
From 1966: Her nephew, Charles Lamson Hoffman, bequethed from the above.
Until 2003: His son-in-law and daughter, Derek and Lillian Ostergard, New York, NY, inherited from the above.
From 2003: Dallas Museum of Art, gift from the above.
AUDIO ASSETS
VIDEO ASSETS
rules
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Objects
number
Equals
2003.48
source file
object_notes_2_d-0430.xml.nores