Hans Hoffman: The Studio (1950)

"It is not the form that dictates the color, but the color that brings out the form."

"The ability to simplify means to eliminate the unnecessary so that the necessary may speak."

This particular piece uses color and basic shapes to describe the space of a studio room. There is a distinct stool in the lower right and a possible corner of a canvas in the top left. 

Hans Hoffman's first quotation reiterates the importance of the use of color in describing shapes. He uses bright colors that contrast one another such that they describe forms around the space. He also uses negative space to describe shapes (such as the stool). 

His second quotation correlates to the simplicity in this piece. The only real distinct shape is the stool, the rest of the shapes are left to interpretation. However, according to Hoffman, the rest of the shapes are the "necessary," and in this piece he emphasizes their existence and allows them to speak.