Margo Hoff [b. 1912: Tulsa, Oklahoma]
oil on masonite
37 by 49 inches
Gift of Ryerson Tull, Inc.
Collection of the Illinois State Museum
Hoff’s work consistently dances between realism and abstraction. Drawn to the allure of pattern as an abstracting device, her images are less decorative than they might seem at first glance. She directs our attention to the latticed steel framework of electrical pylons that march inexorably toward Chicago as she subtly shifts value and color within them to create faceted surfaces from spatial voids. Field of Towers conveys the sere heat of a Midwestern August afternoon with its austere composition of simplified form and warm hue.
Sometimes artists employ abstract properties of color to heighten the expressive content of their imagery.