HOOK

Facing page: This large oil pain,ng's sub- ject ma-er is described as "Lily Flowers & Landscape" which was painted outdoors where the scarlet wild daylilies are blooming in a landscape with trees and a river. The pain,ng was ini,ally an expres- sion of total op,c observa,on, that the viewer could imagine a real Hudson Val- ley landscape. Later, he asked a ques,on: what is the mind imagining if I remove a piece of the tree trunks and place it else- where in the totality of this artwork? HOOK 23 F rom ages six through ten, ar5st Bill Hochhausen grew up in post-WW II Europe. there he saw many examples of people out in the open, working with their hands. "their produc5vity and ingenuity was admired, praiseworthy and it looked like they had fun," he remembers. "Who could resist?" So when his family was able to se6le here in nyC, his intui5on about materials and using tools seemed a 'natural' skill, leading him to be enrolled in the High School of Industrial Art (now restruc- tured as the High School of Art and design). Back then it trained working-class students in prac5cal sign pain5ng, adver5sing design, and other jobs for someone "good with their hands." Bill, however, dreamed of going to col- lege and hoped to pass the rigorous Cooper union School of Art entrance exam. It felt like a miracle when he was ac- cepted with full scholarship. A%er graduat- ing, Bill went on to a BFA and MFA at yale during the years of tumultuous develop- ments in the modern art world. "details of a technical nature were rare, but we learned art history plus philosophy and be- Plein Air with painterly landscape Trees and River

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