Hans Hofmann: The Chimbote Project

Of all the European artists present at the birth of American Abstract Expressionism, Hans Hofmann was among the most influential. Readers will see that geneology of power in this catalogue of designs for a mural Hoffman conceived to decorate a church--never built--commissioned from the Catalan architect Josep-Lluís Sert for Chimbote, Perú. Hofmann's sketches for the port city's bell tower emphasize his work's expressive, formal qualities, so much so that his abstracted crosses and suggestions of fish and boats, while recognizable, almost cease being iconographic to become purely graphic.