Mai Hoffer Pastel Portrait of a Woman, Late 20th Century

Item Details

Maria “Mai” Hoffer (New York, 1938 – 1994)
Untitled, late 20th century
Pastel on paper
Signed to lower right

Academic artist Maria “Mai” Hoffer excelled in oil painting, watercolor and pastels, with a focus on portraits, landscapes and still lifes. Born in Basel, Switzerland, she and her family emigrated to the United States when she was two years of age, just before the United States entered the war. As a young student, Hoffer took art and sculpture lessons on Saturday mornings and majored in Mathematics. After graduating, she worked in a German watch factory and continued to study in German universities. It was later that Hoffer moved to Paris to study French and Oil Painting. In her mid twenties, she returned to the United States where she obtained a Master’s degree in Education. It was in 1968 that she rented an apartment in Brooklyn Heights and studied textile design in the meantime. She eventually joined a co-op art gallery located on Atlantic Ave and developed her skills as an artist. In the 1970s Hoffer mastered pastels and in the 1980s mastered watercolor during which she also helped form the Chelsea Art Studio with other artists. She was now teaching art classes in New Jersey and New York, all the while exhibiting at galleries and winning awards at exhibitions. Hoffer also took several trips traveling from coast to coast, during which she would paint at her rest stops. In 1989 these trips came to an end when she became ill with severe anemia. However she continued to create art and received three awards from three New York exhibitions in the last few months of her life.

Condition

- minor scratches throughout drawing; drawing is not fixed; minor stains throughout mat; drawing is not fully attached to mat.

Dimensions

- measurement of mat; drawing measures approximately 19.5" W x 25.5" H.

Item #

ITMGJ14408