Oskar Hoffmann

Oskar Hoffmann studied at Kunstakademie Düsseldorf. The recorded working language is German. Subjects and genres recorded for the work are portrait. Places of work recorded in the authority are Paris, Düsseldorf and Saint Petersburg. Work by Oskar Hoffmann is recorded in the collections of Art Museum of Estonia, Kumu and Russian Museum.

Hoffmann's father was a baker and members of his mother's family were involved in the performing arts. For a few years, he worked in a lithography and photography studio, which is where he first displayed his aptitude for painting. Many of his later works appear to be based on photographs taken during this period, especially the watercolor portraits. He soon began exhibiting at the local art society and, in 1872, went to Germany, where he enrolled at the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf. In 1874, he briefly worked in the studios of Eduard von Gebhardt. His next professor was a fellow Baltic German from Estonia, Eugen Dücker. His primary influences, however, probably came from Gregor von Bochmann, who was only one year older, but had begun his studies in Düsseldorf at the age of eighteen. They also became lifelong friends. He graduated from the Academy in 1877 and made a visit to Paris, where he worked with Fernand Cormon. The following year, he established his own studio in Düsseldorf and learned etching. In the early 1880s, he briefly returned to Dorpat then, possibly in debt, went to Saint Petersburg where, in 1884, he was granted the status of "Free Artist" by the Imperial Academy of Arts. While there, he continued to participate in international exhibitions in Vienna, Berlin and elsewhere.