August Hoff

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August Hoff (born September 16, 1892 in Forbach / Lothringen, † February 16, 1971 in Cologne ) was a German art historian .

Live and act

Hoff first studied natural sciences, but then did his doctorate in art history. In 1924 he became director of the city art museum in Duisburg . There he founded the important plastic collection of today's Lehmbruck Museum in Duisburg with a sure feeling for the quality of the work of the sculptor Wilhelm Lehmbruck . In 1929 he was appointed lecturer at the Düsseldorf Art Academy .

Dismissed from all offices by the National Socialists in 1933, Hoff earned his living as an art writer and lecturer, as well as being an artistic adviser to the United Workshops in Munich and the workshops for glass painting and mosaic.

In 1945, Mayor Konrad Adenauer summoned August Hoff to Cologne to reopen the Cologne factory schools . From 1946 to 1957, Hoff led the Werkschulen to rank and reputation again as professor and director. During this time Hoff was also active in the German Design Council , in the Working Group for Industrial Design at Craft Schools, in the Henry van de Velde Society, in the German Art Council . V. and in the German Werkbund .

August Hoff also published a variety of publications on old and new art, but preferably artist monographs:

Fonts (selection)

  • Tasks of today's church art . In: Die Form, Vol. 1, 1922, Issue 4, pp. 12-19 ( digitized version ).
  • Emil Fahrenkamp. An excerpt from his work from 1924 - 1927. Julius Hoffmann, Stuttgart 1928
  • Dominikus Boehm. Professor at the Cologne factory schools. Hübsch, Berlin, Leipzig, Vienna, 1930
  • With Josef Habbel (jun.): Dominikus Böhm. A German builder. An illustrated book edited by Josef Habbel with the assistance of August Hoff. With a foreword by Jakob Kneip and essays by Alois Elsen. Josef Habbel , Regensburg, 1943
  • " Wilhelm Lehmbruck " (1933/1936/1961)
  • " Johan Thorn-Prikker " (1958)
  • " Ludwig Gies " (1959)
  • " Henry van de Velde " (1962)
  • " Karl Ernst Osthaus " (1971)

Honor

and Pope Pius XII. appoints Hoff in Rome "Knight of the New Year's Eve ".

1963 honorary membership at the Brussels Art School.

The Letter Foundation awards a grant for art historical research called "August Hoff".

literature

  • City archive Duisburg, Mercator Society: Duisburger Forschungen, Volume 48, Page 187, In: S chriftenreihe (Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung. Research Institute), Mercator-Verlag, 2002
  • Ulrike Wendland: Biographical handbook of German-speaking art historians in exile. Life and work of the scientists persecuted and expelled under National Socialism. Part 1: A – K. Saur, Munich 1999, ISBN 3-598-11339-0 , pp. 312-314.

Web links