Irwin D. Hoffman

Mexican Barber Shop (Getting a shave amidst revelry of community)

1936

The Loop III was created in a small edition of 15. The Loop is a vibrant area featuring eclectic eateries, shops, theaters and parks. Comprised mostly of high-rises, it’s also home to the 108-story Willis Tower. The iconic “Cloud Gate...

The Loop VI was created in a small edition of 15. The Loop is a vibrant area featuring eclectic eateries, shops, theaters and parks. Comprised mostly of high-rises, it’s also home to the 108-story Willis Tower. The iconic “Cloud Gate...

The Loop II was created in a small edition of 15. The Loop is a vibrant area featuring eclectic eateries, shops, theaters and parks. Comprised mostly of high-rises, it’s also home to the 108-story Willis Tower. The iconic “Cloud Gate...

The Loop I was created in a small edition of 15. The Loop is a vibrant area featuring eclectic eateries, shops, theaters and parks. Comprised mostly of high-rises, it’s also home to the 108-story Willis Tower. The iconic “Cloud Gate...

John Sloan (1871-1954), Barbershop, 1915, etching and aquatint, signed in pencil lower right, inscribed in pencil “For John Quinn, Esq. – John Sloan” lower left margin, (also signed ...

Jirayr Zorthian(1911-2004), went through two Turkish massacres before age eight. He left Turkey at age nine with his family and spent a year in Padua, Italy, waiting for his visa to open to the United States. This period was very important in his life because his father took him to many cities in Europe and exposed him to great works of art. Zorthian arrived in the United States at the age of eleven and settled with his family in New Haven, Connecticut. He obtained his formal education there, after graduating from Yale in 1932, the Winchester Fellowship granted him a year and a half at the American Academy in Rome with travel and study throughout Europe. His art career branched into various directions on his return to the United States. As a mural painter his reputation was established. He has forty two (42) murals throughout the United States. Zorthian worked and taught painting at some of the finest art academies on the west coast including both the Chouinard Art Institute and the Otis Art Institute. The Corner Barber Shop...

A man with lots of whiskers is trimming his facial hair while looking in a mirror. The male figure and his beard are carefully drawn but Hirsch has cleverly just briefly sketched in ...

El Mercado de Pátzcuaro II captures a glimpse of daily life in the highland town of Pátzcuaro, Michoacán. The scene shows three Indigenous figures, rendered with bold lines and earthy tones, standing amid the bustle of the market. Two men in traditional white cotton clothing and wide-brimmed straw hats stand in conversation, their woven baskets and bundles suggesting they are either arriving to sell goods or preparing to return home with their purchases. Beside them, a woman cloaked in a dark rebozo gazes outward, her expression reflective and steady, grounding the composition with a quiet dignity. The strong woodcut textures emphasize folds of fabric, rough straw, and woven fiber, reminding the viewer of the handmade traditions that sustain the culture. The marketplace of Pátzcuaro has long been a hub of commerce and cultural exchange, and Oñate’s print conveys both the social energy and the rooted traditions of this setting. The figures are depicted not as anonymous passersby but as individuals whose posture, clothing, and belongings tell stories of community, resilience, and labor. The muted yet warm palette, accented with yellows and reds, suggests early morning light spilling across the plaza’s cobblestones, while the abstracted background blocks provide rhythm and structure without distracting from the human presence. Francisco Rodríguez Oñate (1940–2019) was a distinguished Mexican post-war and contemporary artist whose career extended over several decades throughout Mexico, the United States, and Latin America. Born in Michoacán, he received his education at the Escuela Popular de Bellas Artes at the University of Michoacán, where he studied under esteemed artists such as Alfredo Zalce, Roberto Martínez, and Javier Arévalo...