Girl Surprised Painting

Larry Hofmann (b.1943) was raised on a farm in southern Minnesota where his father was a beekeeper and his mother an educator; he now works and lives in Janesville, Minnesota. Living in this gentle land influenced his work from the beginning. He made his first oil painting as a boy when, after receiving a set of oil paints from his parents as a birthday gift, he ran outside and attempted to paint a view of the landscape from the farm’s front lawn. In 1968 he obtained a bachelor’s degree with a double major in painting from Minnesota State University. Both artist and musician, Hofmann worked his way through college by playing bass guitar with various bands, and after college he worked as a musician until 1977 when he began to paint full time. His first paintings were large, acrylic, photo-real airbrushed landscapes of the western United States that over years eventually evolved into brushed-oil paintings based on Minnesota landscapes. Working from photographs or sketches, he continued painting landscapes until 2016 when he painted a series of still lifes. He then began making figurative paintings on which he is now primarily focused. At present he divides his time between painting, music, and with his wife, managing the farm on which he grew up that is now on the National Register of Historic Places. His figurative works start with photographs taken in his studio that serve as references for images that change and evolve. Sometimes a figure painting may go through weeks or even months of evolution/evaluation until finished. Hofmann has been exhibiting in group and solo shows since 1983, and is included in many private and corporate collections.