從求真中築起新阿卡迪亞──漢斯．霍夫曼的抽象表現主義

Abstract

本論文以德裔美籍的藝術家漢斯．霍夫曼（Hans Hofmann, 1880-1966）的藝術理論及畫作為研究核心，並且特別整理與分析霍夫曼未出版的〈畫家手冊〉（Das Maler Buch）德文手稿內容，以從中探究其藝術理論之內涵並其思想之根源。據此而以霍夫曼繪畫作品為分析重點，析離當中之共通質素；兼之盱衡抽象表現主義在美興起及發展之政經局勢，佐以梳理相關學術論述，最後試圖對霍夫曼作品風格提出整體詮釋，亦即其畫中宇宙實為畫家藉以遁世立足的世外桃源──新阿卡迪亞（New Arcadia）。

本文首章將自現代主義在美國萌生的時代背景切入，略述美國廿世紀上半葉社會、經濟、政治與藝壇之概況，掌握理解畫派暨文本不可或缺之時代脈絡。論文第二章整理霍夫曼之生平與特殊際遇，藉此探究霍夫曼本人、其繪畫風格之形成與其所處世界之關連。第三章旨在追溯影響霍夫曼藝術立論的思想根源，包括歌德（Johann Wolfgang von Goethe）、費德勒（Konrad Fiedler）、希德布蘭特（Adolf von Hildebrand）、柏格森（Henri Bergson）以及沃林格（Wilhelm Worringer）等人的著作。第四章為霍夫曼藝術理論之闡釋，梳理〈畫家手冊〉手稿之霍夫曼思想精髓與論理要點。最末章則聚焦分析霍夫曼的繪畫作品並漸次鋪陳其作品內涵如何邁向新阿卡迪亞境界。This dissertation aims to investigate the art theory and paintings of the German-born American artist Hans Hofmann (1880-1966). Through the study of his unpublished manuscript Das Maler Buch, this research explores the implication and origins of Hofmann’s art theory. The analysis of his paintings would be emphasized and certain common elements and characteristics among the works would be therefore segregated and analyzed. In addition to the illustration of the political and economic context at the time the Abstract Expressionism emerged as a school in the United States and to the articulation of relevant theoretical discourses, the dissertation would at last present an interpretation of Hofmann’s works to point out that his cosmos in thepaintings is to be a “new Arcadia” for the painters to escape into and to live on.

At first, Chapter One offers an examination of the contemporary background behind the emergence of modernism to grasp the context which is essential to the understanding of the school and the paintings. To be observed is the social, economic, political and artistic milieu at the first half of the twentieth century in the United States. Chapter Two illustrates Hofmann’s biography to find out the connection between the artist, his style of painting and the world he lived in. The next chapter traces the origins of Hofmann’s art theory back to the works of Johann Wolfgang Goethe, Konrad Fiedler, Adolf von Hildebrand, Henri Bergeson and Wilhelm Worringer. Chapter Four offers an interpretation of Hofmann’s art theory and an articulation of his core thoughts written in the manuscript Das Maler Buch. The final chapter of this dissertation focuses on the analysis of Hofmann’s paintings and thereby present how his works has gradually implicated the vision of the “new Arcadia”.