July 6 - 27, 2013. Two Margo Hoff paintings were included in "SummerSet 2013," at the David Findlay Jr Gallery, 724 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY. Contact info for the gallery: 212 486-7660, www.davidfindlayjr.com. (A limited number of additional paintings are available for viewing, upon request.) The first piece displayed here (larger photo) is "Stone Path" (1973), Acrylic, canvas collage on stretched canvas, 34 x 32 inches. In the photo lensed at the show, you can also see "Sea Plants" (1986), Acrylic, canvas collage on stretched canvas, 28 x 46 inches.
The Margo Hoff exhibition at Corbett vs. Dempsey was on view from November 27, 2009 - January 16, 2010. (Pictured: "Reception for the Artist" 1987, Acrylic Color Collage on Panel, 48"x48"—click on image to enlarge)
(From Left to Right. Click on any image to enlarge.) The first photo shows Lena Horne and Commandant Berneaud of the SS Liberte; the painting between them is "Calendar," by Margo Hoff. The smaller painting on the left is also by the artist, and the way the work is displayed suggests the possibility that there was a Hoff exhibition (or a group show including her work) aboard the Transatlantic ocean liner. The ship was built in 1929 in Germany; captured by the British during World War II; sank in 1946; was subsequently raised and refitted, and saw service as a passenger liner from 1950-1961—this would seem to date the photo to the 1950s. The liner made an appearance in the classic film Sabrina (1954), starring Audrey Hepburn and Humphrey Bogart. To read more about this ship's fascinating history, go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_Europa_(1928). Second photo: The Liberte sailing out of New York.
"Undress" (1942), an early figurative painting by Margo Hoff was on display at the Chicago History Museum, in a show titled Big Picture: A New View of Painting in Chicago, from October 20, 2007 - August 3, 2008. The show "offers a history
of painting in the city by showcasing works ranging from the
late-19th-century realist, satirical, and folk traditions to
mid-20th-century expressionism and abstraction." (Currently a photograph of the actual artwork is unavailable, but posted here is a woodblock print created by the artist, based on the painting.) You can see a brief film clip, featuring Ms. Hoff's Chicago gallerists John Corbett and Jim Dempsey, giving an overview of the exhibition here:
Margo Hoff was the subject of a posting on the prominent gay website towleroad.com, with a brief overview of her life and career, written by Matthew Rettenmund. You can view the posting by going to http://www.towleroad.com/2008/07/winter-path.html. Mr. Rettenmund subsequently placed a very moving follow-up posting, when Ms. Hoff passed, on his own website, which can be seen at: http://boyculture.typepad.com/boy_culture/2008/08/may-orchardwinter-path.html. The photograph at left (from 1968) shows Ms. Hoff posing before her 3-Dimensional painting "Giant Butterfly," inspired by a visit to Southern Illinois orchards. (Repository Location: Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. 20560.)