1999 Exhibition Year

Armin and Dorothea Hofmann:
Their Work and Philosophy

10/13/1999 to 11/15/1999

Armin and Dorothea Hofmann have each achieved international recognition for their contributions as artists and educators in their respective disciplines. Though the Swiss couple’s careers have unavoidably overlapped, their work had never been exhibited together. The subtle influences they exchanged over the years allowed each of them to develop distinctive, yet compatible philosophies in their work.

Armin Hofmann has shaped the world of graphic design and graphic design education on an international scale through his teachings, writings, and works. Born in Winterthur, Switzerland, he is credited for the development of "Swiss Design" while teaching at the Basel School of Design where he began his career as a teacher at the early age of 26. He continued teaching there for 40 years. Armin has been a visiting lecturer at the Museum College of Art in Philadelphia, has taught as a Professor at Yale University since 1956, and has been a guest lecturer at the National Institute of Design in Ahmedabad, India. In 1973, he founded the internationally known Summer Program in Graphic Design in Brissago, Switzerland. Armin Hofmann’s work has been exhibited at major museums around the world including the Museum of Modern Art in New York.

Dorothea Hofmann has an international reputation as an artist and teacher as well. She has taught together with Armin at the Brissago school, and has taught drawing at Yale University, The Basel School of Design, the New York Studio School of Drawing, Painting and Sculpture, and the Maine Summer Institute, among others. Her work has been exhibited in Switzerland and the United States and is included in many public and private collections