Charles Constantin Joseph Hoffbauer (June 28, 1875 – July 26, 1957) was a French-born artist who became a United States citizen. He painted a wide variety of subjects, including many that depicted scenes of historical interest.Gropper, Joseph (1977). Charles Hoffbauer, Gropper Art Gallery, p. 3.
Early life and education Charles Hoffbauer was born in Paris. His parents, Féodor Hubert Hoffbauer and Marie Clemence Belloc Hoffbauer, were of Alsatian origin. Féodor Hoffbauer was a well-known archeologist, architect, and artist, and likely influenced his son's interest in history.Gropper, p.4. As a child, Charles sometimes assisted his father in conducting research.Safford, Edwin (July 7, 1966). "A Husband's Art Endures". Providence Evening Bulletin, p. 20. The elder Hoffbauer's 1882 book on Paris architecture, Paris à Travers les Ages, has been updated over the years and remains in print with the latest edition published in 2007.Hoffbauer, Feodor; Payen-Appenzeller, Pascal; and Voorthulze, Cornelius van (2007). Paris à Travers les Ages, Paris, France: Place de Victoires. .(http://www.worldcat.org/title/paris-a-travers-les-ages/oclc/470672402?referer=di&ht=edition). Retrieved April 23, 2015.
After receiving a traditional elementary and secondary education in French schools, Hoffbauer attended the École des Beaux-Arts for three years. He studied under Fernand Cormon, François Flemeng, and symbolist painter Gustave Moreau. Classmates of Hoffbauer included Paul Baignères, Charles Camoin, Henri Evenepoel, Raoul du Gardier, Henri Manguin, Albert Marquet, Henri Matisse and Georges Rouault. Shortly before his 21st birthday, Hoffbauer reported for his mandatory French military service. He trained at Falaise, Normandy for 18 months. Completing his military service in September 1897, he returned to Paris and began his career as an artist.
Early career and awards Hoffbauer's early works received recognition and awards. In 1898 his painting Reunion de bourgeois aux XIVe siècle earned an honorable mention at his first exhibition at the Paris Salon. The following year, he received a gold medal for Les Gueux, becoming the youngest artist to receive this award. The Musée de Rouen in France purchased the painting. In 1900 he received a bronze medal at the Paris Exposition Universelle. At the 1902 Paris Salon his painting Revolte des Flamandes earned the Prix Rosa Bonheur and was purchased by the Philadelphia Museum of Art. The French government awarded a traveling fellowship for this painting, which allowed Hoffbauer to spend the summer of 1903 in Italy. In 1904, he exhibited Champs de bataille at the Paris Salon. Although it received no awards, the painting earned favorable comments and was purchased by the Musée de Luxembourg.Gropper, p. 6.
At the 1905 Paris Salon, Hoffbauer entered his painting Sur les toits, which depicts several well-dressed diners at an upscale New York City rooftop restaurant. Although he had never visited the United States, Hoffbauer had chanced to see some photographs of New York skyscrapers in a bookstore window while visiting Rome. Based on his memory of the photographs, he imagined what a rooftop dining scene would look like and painted a preliminary study after returning to Paris in 1904, using his friends and fellow artists Raoul du Gardier and Rudulph Evans as models. Shortly before the opening of the Paris Salon, Hoffbauer became dissatisfied with his work and decided to withdraw and revise the painting for resubmission. The new version, which was completed in 10 days, earned no awards but received significant critical acclaim. According to one reviewer, "'Sur les toits' is without question the most interesting picture of the year; it is accepted as the 'nail' of the Old Salon.... After this picture...there is not at this Salon any other which can be described as more than pleasing."Keary, C.F. (April 8, 1905). The Outlook, 15, 793. Google Book Search. Retrieved April 22, 2015. The Art Gallery of New South Wales (Sydney, Australia) purchased the painting, and it remains in their collection today.Hoffbauer, Charles (1905). "Among the Rooftops". Art Gallery of New South Wales (http://www.artgallery.nsw.gov.au/search/?q=hoffbauer). Retrieved on April 11, 2015. It was also displayed in London at the 1908 Franco-British Exhibition."French Pictures at the Franco-British Exhibition," (January–June, 1908). The Anthenaeum, No. 4207, p. 736. Google Book Search. Retrieved April 11, 2015. Hoffbauer painted a smaller, rearranged version, which he renamed Roof Garden, New York, and sold to the Carnegie Institute.Gropper, p. 8.
Hoffbauer's 1906 painting of Triomphe d'un Condottiere was a significant step in his career. The painting depicts victorious warriors returning triumphantly to Florence, Italy, in the 15th century. Hoffbauer entered the work in the Paris Salon, where it earned the Prix National du Salon. The award, the highest prize of the Salon, provided a substantial 10,000 franc traveling fellowship. Over the next few years, Hoffbauer visited Great Britain, Belgium, the Netherlands, Milan, Cairo, Luxor, Aswan, Athens, Rome, Venice, and the United States. He also continued to enter paintings in the Paris Salon, including A Londres, which depicts a couple in evening attire preparing to leave a stylish restaurant.Gropper, p. 10."Studio talk" (1906). The Studio 38, 352. Google Book Search. Retrieved on April 22, 2015. The painting was purchased (and is currently owned) by the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, Russia.Hoffbauer, Charles (1907). In the Restaurant. The State Hermitage Museum. (http://www.hermitagemuseum.org/wps/portal/hermitage/digital-collection/01.+Paintings/28755/?lng=en). Retrieved on April 11, 2015.
Hoffbauer first arrived in the United States in New York City on December 21, 1909. His friend and fellow artist Charles Dana Gibson met him as he arrived and helped establish Hoffbauer in the New York art community. For the first time he was able to visit the skyscrapers that he had used in Sur les Toits and later wrote to his mother that he had accurately depicted the rooftop setting. He painted watercolors while visiting the Adirondacks, and in Boston he made drawings of local airplane races. In New York City, he began a long-term professional relationship with Roland Knoedler of Knoedler Galleries. Knoedler became Hoffbauer's U.S. representative and held numerous exhibitions of the artist's work, including a 1912 repainting of Triomphe d'un Condottiere.Gropper, p. 12. By the following year, Hoffbauer had established himself as a well-regarded artist with an international reputation.Levy, Florence N. (Ed.) (1913). "Who's who in Art". American Art Annual 10, 281. Google Book search. Retrieved on April 22, 2015.
Confederate Memorial Association murals Contract and initial development One of the attendees at the exhibition of the repainted Triomphe d'un Condottiere was James Wall Finn. Finn, a painter himself, was searching for an artist for a large project on behalf of Thomas Fortune Ryan and James Taylor Ellyson. Ellyson, lieutenant governor of Virginia and a former private in the Confederate army, was president of the Confederate Memorial Association. In 1912, the Association had nearly completed its headquarters building, the Confederate Memorial Institute (popularly known as Battle AbbeyFounded in 1896, the association was established to honor Confederate soldiers who died in the Civil War. In 1946, the Virginia Historical Society absorbed the association and became the owner of Battle Abbey and its contents. See "About VHS-Our History ."), in Richmond, Virginia. Ellyson's goal was to decorate the south wing of the building as a memorial to the valor of the fallen Confederacy. He stated, "I have for several years had the ambitious desire to have a collection of mural paintings similar to those to be found in the great gallery at Versailles." He secured $20,000 in funding from Ryan, a native Virginian and wealthy New York financier."Mural art will decorate hall". (September 27, 1912). The Times Dispatch, p. 1. Finn was impressed with Hoffbauer and his work and recommended the artist to Ryan and Ellyson. On July 27, 1912, Ellyson and Hoffbauer signed a four-page contract requiring the artist to "... provide all material and perform all work for the Mural decorations of the four walls of the south wing of the Confederate Memorial Institute." The artist's compensation was $20,000, and he was to complete the project within 2 years. The contract specified that Hoffbauer would "guarantee the performance and good condition of his work" for 20 years after completion. He also agreed to copyright the murals and retain the copyright in his possession.Hoffbauer, Charles, and Ellyson, J. Taylor (July 27, 1912). Untitled contract, pp. 1-4. "Charles Hoffbauer papers, 1891-1974," Archives of American Art.
In January 1913, Hoffbauer began work at the Institute. He used thousands of Mathew Brady photographs as a means of visualizing scenes from over a decade before his birth, and ready access to Civil War veterans next door at the R.E. Lee Camp provided a source of living history. To produce the murals, Hoffbauer drew hundreds of small pen-and-ink sketches. From these, he created 60 larger pastel and crayon drawings. Most of the sketches and drawings were created on grids so that the images could be proportionately enlarged for final painting on the mural walls. He also prepared over a dozen three-dimensional clay models, which allowed him to test perspectives and the arrangement of characters and equipment in order to determine the optimal staging of scenes. For human models, Hoffbauer chose local citizens, including Bob Campbell, a local stonemason whose likeness was used for many of the common soldiers; sculptor Edward Valentine for a doctor; Patterson Avenue resident Julian Garthright for a wounded soldier on a hospital cot; Garthright's aunt, a United Daughters of the Confederacy librarian, for a nurse; a Jefferson Hotel bellman for a black soldier; and James Ellyson for an artilleryman.Rasmussen, William M.S. (July 1993). "Making the Confederate murals". Virginia Magazine of History and Biography 101(3), 439, 455.Mullins, L. Cleo (May 21, 1912). "Interim Report of Examination and Treatment ", p. 2. Retrieved on April 13, 2005.
War service