Julius Hatofsky


Julius Hatofsky was an American painter.

Biography

Julius Hatofsky was born in Ellenville, in upstate New York, in 1922, and first studied art as a teenager in the Works Progress Administration/Federal Art Project art classes. Later he studied at the Art Students League of New York and the Académie de la Grande Chaumière in Paris, returning to New York to study at the Hans Hofmann School in 1952. At the League he studied with Morris Kantor and Robert Beverly Hale.
Hatofsky had a varied experience beyond the art world. While still a young man he worked as a New York City police officer. Later, in 1942 in World War II, he was drafted into the 82nd Airborne Division, landing by glider in crucial battles. A foot soldier later promoted to sergeant, he served in the Battle of the Bulge and the invasions of the Netherlands and Normandy; later in 1945 he participated in the liberation of a concentration camp.
Julius Hatofsky began painting in New York during the 1950s and moved to San Francisco in 1961 to teach at the San Francisco Art Institute, eventually retiring in 1995. According to the critic from Art in America magazine,
after 1973, his paintings gradually moved toward American Figurative Expressionism.
Julius Hatofsky
Close to his death Hatofsky wrote:
"..Inventing imagery is the basis of my painting. Once involved, I concentrate on scale, inner light, drawing, surface, rhythm, color. Developing these painting concerns has helped to focus my emotional intensity and release my imagination. At age 83, I have a range and variety of expression and imagery and feel a command over the work that has taken over sixty years to acquire. I constantly try to reach deeper, to move beyond my limitations, to challenge myself and to learn. I feel I’ve made considerable progress in the last 25 years.â€
Julius Hatofsky died on January 1, 2006, in Vallejo, California.

Selected solo exhibitions