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Evelyn Hofer - Online Exhibition

October 30 – November 30, 2024

Evelyn Hofer, Phoenix Park on a Sunday, Dublin, 1966

Evelyn Hofer

Phoenix Park on a Sunday, Dublin, 1966

16 x 20 inch dye transfer print

Signed on verso 

Evelyn Hofer, President's Car, 1966

Evelyn Hofer

President's Car, 1966

20 x 16 inch dye transfer print

Signed on verso 

Evelyn Hofer, Springtime, Washington D.C., 1965

Evelyn Hofer

Springtime, Washington D.C., 1965

20 x 16 inch dye transfer print

Signed on verso 

Evelyn Hofer, Four Young Men, Washington D.C., 1968

Evelyn Hofer

Four Young Men, Washington D.C., 1968

16 x 20 inch dye transfer print

Signed on verso 

Evelyn Hofer, 8th Street, Washington D.C., 1965

Evelyn Hofer

8th Street, Washington D.C., 1965

20 x 16 inch dye transfer print

Signed on verso 

Evelyn Hofer, Coney Island, New York, 1965

Evelyn Hofer

Coney Island, New York, 1965

20 x 16 inch dye transfer print

Signed on verso 

Evelyn Hofer, Queensboro Bridge, New York, 1964

Evelyn Hofer

Queensboro Bridge, New York, 1964

20 x 16 inch dye transfer print

Signed on verso 

Evelyn Hofer, Car Park, New York, 1965

Evelyn Hofer

Car Park, New York, 1965

20 x 16 inch dye transfer print

Signed on verso 

Evelyn Hofer, Arteries, New York, 1964

Evelyn Hofer

Arteries, New York, 1964

16 x 20 inch dye transfer print

Signed on verso 

Evelyn Hofer, Lee Krasner's Shoes, Pollock Studio, Long Island, 1988

Evelyn Hofer

Lee Krasner's Shoes, Pollock Studio, Long Island, 1988

20 x 16 inch dye transfer print

Signed on verso 

Evelyn Hofer, Royal Hospital, Kilmainham, Dublin, 1966

Evelyn Hofer

Royal Hospital, Kilmainham, Dublin, 1966

14 x 17 inch dye transfer print

Signed on verso 

Evelyn Hofer, Girl with Bicycle, Dublin, 1966

Evelyn Hofer

Girl with Bicycle, Dublin, 1966

20 x 16 inch dye transfer print

Signed on verso 

Evelyn Hofer, Huband Bridge, Dublin, 1966

Evelyn Hofer

Huband Bridge, Dublin, 1966

16 x 20 inch dye transfer print

Signed on verso 

Evelyn Hofer, 42nd Street, New York, 1964

Evelyn Hofer

42nd Street, New York, 1964

16 x 20 inch silver gelatin print

Signed on verso 

Evelyn Hofer, Andy Warhol in his Loft, New York, 1965

Evelyn Hofer

Andy Warhol in his Loft, New York, 1965

20 x 16 inch silver gelatin print

Signed on verso 

Evelyn Hofer, Anna & Emma, Dublin, 1966

Evelyn Hofer

Anna & Emma, Dublin, 1966

20 x 16 inch silver gelatin print

Signed on verso 

Evelyn Hofer, Seminaries, Dublin, 1966

Evelyn Hofer

Seminaries, Dublin, 1966

20 x 16 inch silver gelatin print

Signed on verso 

Evelyn Hofer, Girl, Barcelona, 1963

Evelyn Hofer

Girl, Barcelona, 1963

20 x 16 inch silver gelatin print

Signed on verso 

Evelyn Hofer, Guard, Paris, 1967

Evelyn Hofer

Guard, Paris, 1967

20 x 16 inch silver gelatin print

Signed on verso 

Evelyn Hofer, Secretaries in Rawlings Park, Washington D.C., 1965

Evelyn Hofer

Secretaries in Rawlings Park, Washington D.C., 1965

20 x 16 inch silver gelatin print

Signed on verso 

Evelyn Hofer, Miranda, London, 1980

Evelyn Hofer

Miranda, London, 1980

20 x 16 inch silver gelatin print

Signed on verso 

Evelyn Hofer, Haughwout Building, New York, 1965

Evelyn Hofer

Haughwout Building, New York, 1965

20 x 16 inch silver gelatin print

Signed on verso 

Evelyn Hofer, Park Sceaux, 1967

Evelyn Hofer

Park Sceaux, 1967

16 x 20 inch silver gelatin print

Signed on verso 

Evelyn Hofer, Andy Warhol (in his studio with Elvis Presley print), New York, 1963

Evelyn Hofer

Andy Warhol (in his studio with Elvis Presley print), New York, 1963

20 x 16 inch silver gelatin print

Signed on verso 

Evelyn Hofer, Chauffeurs, Washington D.C., 1965

Evelyn Hofer

Chauffeurs, Washington D.C., 1965

20 x 16 inch silver gelatin print

Signed on verso 

Evelyn Hofer, Fire Escapes, New York, 1965

Evelyn Hofer

Fire Escapes, New York, 1965

20 x 16 inch silver gelatin print

Signed on verso 

Evelyn Hofer, Still Life (2), Oaxaca Vace with Aubergine, 1996

Evelyn Hofer

Still Life (2), Oaxaca Vace with Aubergine, 1996

20 x 24 inch dye transfer print

Signed on verso 

Evelyn Hofer, Still Life (5), Mexican Still life with Saint, 1997

Evelyn Hofer

Still Life (5), Mexican Still life with Saint, 1997

20 x 24 inch dye transfer print

Signed on verso 

Evelyn Hofer, Still Life (6), Hommage á Zurbaran, 1997

Evelyn Hofer

Still Life (6), Hommage á Zurbaran, 1997

20 x 24 inch dye transfer print

Signed on verso 

Press Release

Evelyn Hofer was born in Marburg, Germany in 1922 and died in 2009 in Mexico City. In the years in between, Hofer created a body of work that both looked back to the tradition of August Sander and anticipated the color work of William Eggleston, causing her to be called "the most famous unknown photographer in America" by New York Times art critic Hilton Kramer – a devout supporter of her work.

Hofer's work has influenced such photographers as Thomas Struth, Joel Sternfeld, Adam Bartos, Rineke Dijkstra, Judith Joy Ross, and Alex Soth. There have been retrospectives of her work at the Musée de l'Elysée in Lausanne; the Aarggauer Kunsthaus in Switzerland; and the Fotomuseum The Hague. Last year her work was shown at both the High Museum and the Nelson Atkins Museum - the first major museum exhibitions in the United States in over 50 years dedicated to Hofer’s work.  Evelyn Hofer: Eyes on the City focused on photographs from Hofer’s series of widely distributed photobooks devoted to European and American cities and featured more than 100 vintage prints in both black and white and color from those publications.

When Hofer was eleven her family fled Nazi Germany for Switzerland. She decided she wanted to be a photographer and set about it methodically. She began with an apprenticeship at the Studio Bettina, a portrait studio, and took private lessons with Hans Finsler, one of the pioneers of the "New Objectivity" movement.

Hofer's studies covered everything from photographic technique to art theory. She didn't just learn composition and the underlying theories of aesthetics, she also learned the chemistry involved in producing prints. Beginning in the early 1960s she became one of the first fine art photographers to adopt the use of color film and the complicated dye transfer printing process as a regular practice. Throughout her long career, Hofer continued to shoot in both color and black and white – determining which was the more apt for the picture at hand.

In the middle 1950s Hofer's career took an important turn when the writer Mary McCarthy asked her to provide the photographs for The Stones of Florence, a literary exploration of the history and culture of that city. Over the next forty years Hofer collaborated with writers including V.S. Pritchett and Jan (James) Morris to produce books on Spain, Dublin, New York City, London, Paris, Switzerland, and Washington, D.C. in which she mixed portraits and land or cityscapes.

Working with a cumbersome 4 x 5 inch viewfinder camera, Hofer always photographed her subjects where she found them, but favored carefully composed scenes with a still, timeless aura. Almost in opposition to the on-the-fly work of her contemporaries Eggleston and William Klein, Hofer used extraordinary patience to slow the world down, examine its conditions, and capture the exact image that she envisioned, searching for an "inside value, some interior respect" in the people she photographed.

Hofer's goal was to go beyond documentary photography to create a subjective interpretation of the world, conveying both the spirit of the time and a timeless message. A street photographer of a different stripe, Hofer's street pictures convey the artist's concern with sociological connections and offer a pointed look at society and its conditions. Her trades-people and toffs, her families and social groups are more than just intimate portraits – they epitomize the possibilities and restrictions of the human condition.

Late in her life, when asked for her thoughts on being called "the most famous unknown photographer in America." she said she liked it. She understood that what mattered was the work, not personal fame.