82.13 Wanderer in the Snow

1924

Oil on board, 25 1/4 x 19" (64.2 x 48.6 cm)

Signed, lr: CH

Provenance: Falerie Voemel, Dusseldorf, July 1952

.

82.13 Wanderer in the Snow

1924

Oil on board, 25 1/4 x 19" (64.2 x 48.6 cm)

Signed, lr: CH

Provenance: Falerie Voemel, Dusseldorf, July 1952

Wanderer in the Snow  1924

As Elizabeth Furler points out in her book on the artist, Hofer always has an affinity for darker colors, even during his days as a student.  With the appearance of the Expressionists, Hofer’s palette brightened somewhat, only to darken again after his intensive study in Paris of Delacroix and El Greco.  Unlike these masters, however, whose darkened colors were largely dependent on the overlapping of many color layers thickly painted, Hofer preferred to paint in a “dry” style- that is, using subdued colors applied very thinly to the surface.  In this painting, Hofer’s technique is quite evident: in some places the board itself is visible and actually becomes part of the artist’s intended tonal scheme.  Hofer’s theme here of a single figure standing in a wintry field emphasizes the idea of man’s ultimate isolation from other men- the main idea behind so many of Hofer’s thought-provoking, silent, and melancholic works.