Birth place or City of origin: | Chicago |
State of origin: | IL |
Last known City: | Taos |
Last known State: | NM |
Start/Birth date: | 1888 |
Death/End date: | 1958 |
Known as a traditional Western illustrator, painter and sculptor, Frank Hoffman was born in Chicago, Illinois. He grew up around his father’s New Orleans, Louisiana racing stables. After working for the Chicago American newspaper as head of the art department, Hoffman went west in 1916 to paint, living with the Indian tribes and the cowboys. During that time, he also worked as public relations director for Glacier National Park. In 1920, Hoffman joined the young art colony in Taos, New Mexico. Although focusing on his fine art, Hoffman also painted for corporate advertising campaigns and illustrated Western subjects for the leading national magazines in the 1920s. Advertisers including General Motors, General Electric and the Great Northern Railway hired him because they loved his bold, broad brushwork and striking colors. Hoffman became the best-known New Mexico illustrator of the time, under exclusive contract to Brown and Bigelow for calendar art. He died in Taos, New Mexico, surrounded by the life he painted.