The Letter

Also known as: Girl with Letter

About the Artwork

Hofer's art is filled with disillusionment and pessimism, expressing his dark vision of modern life through a limited range of themes that the artist repeated obsessively. Born in Karlsruhe, Hofer settled in Berlin in 1913. Condemned by the Nazis as a "degenerate artist," in 1933 he was dismissed from his teaching post. In 1943 Hofer's studio and most of his work were destroyed by bombing.

Inscriptions

signed lower right: CH34 [monogram]

Exhibition history

The Silver Jubilee Exhibition. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (June 23-September 28, 1941). 19th and 20th Century French Art and Leonard C. Hanna, Jr. Loans. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (June 22-September 1, 1943). Degenerate! Hitler’s War on Modern Art. Maltz Museum of Jewish Heritage, Beachwood, OH (organizer) (October 29, 2024-April 20, 2025).

Quick Overview

Artist: Karl Hofer (German, 1878–1955)
Date: 1934
Medium: oil on canvas
Dimensions: Unframed: 90.7 x 70 cm (35 11/16 x 27 9/16 in.)
Type: Painting
Classification: Painting
Department: Modern European Painting and Sculpture
Credit line: Hinman B. Hurlbut Collection
Accession no.: 1939.750

Provenance

(Karl Nierendorf, Berlin and New York).

Data retrieved from the Cleveland Museum of Art on October 8, 2026. The museum may have updated its record since.