Oskar Georg Adolf Hoffmann (Russian: Оскар Адольфович Гофман; 5 February 1851, (

Dorpat Tartu is the second largest city in Estonia after the Northern European country's political and financial capital, Tallinn. Tartu has a population of 91,407 (as of 2021). It is southeast of Tallinn and 245 kilometres (152 miles) northeast of ...

(Tartu) – 3 March 1912,

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

) was a

Baltic German Baltic Germans (german: Deutsch-Balten or , later ) were ethnic German inhabitants of the eastern shores of the Baltic Sea, in what today are Estonia and Latvia. Since their coerced resettlement in 1939, Baltic Germans have markedly declined ...

painter from

Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, a ...

. He was best known for his landscapes and colorful depictions of Estonian farmers.

Biography

Hoffmann's father was a master baker and members of his mother's family were involved in the performing arts.Anne Untera
"Oskar Hoffmann looming ja elu"
from '' Kultuur ja Elu'', 2002 For a few years, he worked in a lithography and photography studio, which is where he first displayed his aptitude for painting. Many of his later works appear to be based on photographs taken during this period, especially the watercolor portraits.Juta Kivimäe

"Ajalehte lugev mees" (Man Reading a Newspaper), from ''

Sirp ''Sirp'' (English 'sickle') is a newspaper published in Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to th ...

'', 2002 He soon began exhibiting at the local art society and, in 1872, went to Germany, where he enrolled at the ''

Kunstakademie Düsseldorf The Kunstakademie Düsseldorf is the academy of fine arts of the state of North Rhine Westphalia at the city of Düsseldorf, Germany. Notable artists who studied or taught at the academy include Joseph Beuys, Gerhard Richter, Magdalena Jetelová ...

''. In 1874, he briefly worked in the studios of

Eduard von Gebhardt Franz Karl Eduard von Gebhardt (13 June 1838 – 3 February 1925) was a Baltic German painter of portraits and historical scenes, and a professor at the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf. Biography He was born to Ferdinand Theodor von Gebhardt (1803� ...

. His next professor was a fellow Baltic German from Estonia,

Eugen Dücker Eugen Gustav Dücker (also ''Eugène Gustav Dücker''; , in Arensburg (now Kuressaare, Estonia) – 6 December 1916, in Düsseldorf) was a Baltic German painter, in the Romantic atyle, associated with the Düsseldorfer Malerschule. Biograph ...

. His primary influences, however, probably came from

Gregor von Bochmann Gregor von Bochmann (1 June 1850, Nehatu, Kreis Wiek, Governorate of Estonia – 12 February 1930, Hösel, near Düsseldorf) was a Baltic-German landscape and genre painter. Biography His father was a forest warden for the Governorate of ...

, who was only one year older, but had begun his studies in Düsseldorf at the age of eighteen. They also became lifelong friends. He graduated from the Academy in 1877 and made a visit to Paris, where he worked with

Fernand Cormon Fernand Cormon (24 December 1845 – 20 March 1924) was a French painter born in Paris. He became a pupil of Alexandre Cabanel, Eugène Fromentin, and Jean-François Portaels, and one of the leading historical painters of modern France. Biogra ...

. The following year, he established his own studio in Düsseldorf and learned etching. In the early 1880s, he briefly returned to Dorpat then, possibly in debt, went to Saint Petersburg where, in 1884, he was granted the status of "Free Artist" by the

Imperial Academy of Arts The Russian Academy of Arts, informally known as the Saint Petersburg Academy of Arts, was an art academy in Saint Petersburg, founded in 1757 by the founder of the Imperial Moscow University Ivan Shuvalov under the name ''Academy of the T ...

.
@ BBLD - Baltisches biografisches Lexikon digital While there, he continued to participate in international exhibitions in Vienna, Berlin and elsewhere.

Selected paintings

File:Eesti talumees rohelise kuuega, EKM26932 G16788 Hoffmann O G A Eesti talumees ATG2154.jpg, Estonian Farmer with Green Coat File:Tartu turg.hoffmann.jpg, Market in Tartu File:Oskar hoffmann talumehed kortsis.jpg, Farmers in an Inn File:Oskar hoffmann talumees tubakakarbiga.jpg, Farmer with a Box of Tobacco

References

External links

Works by Hoffmann
at the Art Museum of Estonia
ArtNet: More works by Hoffmann
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hoffmann, Okar 1851 births 1912 deaths People from Tartu People from Kreis Dorpat Baltic-German people Genre painters 19th-century Estonian painters 19th-century Estonian male artists 20th-century Estonian painters 20th-century Estonian male artists Düsseldorf school of painting

Biography

Selected paintings

References

Further reading

External links