Town in the Hills

Hildegarde Haas

Haas used a cubist approach to create this large color woodcut from 4 blocks, done in 1951. Her woodcuts which lean toward rhythmic and calligraphic abstraction were included in the exhibition "Young American Printmakers" at the Museum of Modern Art, New York in 1953.

Hildegarde Haas had a condition called “synesthesia” (visual thinking) which allowed her to visualize music into colors and shapes, so she would work while listening to music. As can be witnessed in Town in the Hills, her woodcuts leaned toward rhythmic and calligraphic abstraction.

Hildegarde Haas was born in Frankfort, Germany on 19 April 1926 and her family moved to the United States. in 1937. Her education included summer classes at the Colorado Springs Fine Art Center followed by two years at the University of Chicago. She received a scholarship to the Art Students’ League, where she studied under Vaclav Vytlacil and Morris Kantor. She was completely self-taught as a printmaker and explored the woodcut medium with other students at the Art Students’ League and “learned as she went.”

Haas was a member of The Printmakers, an established group of New York graphic artists whose ranks included Ross Abrams, Seong Moy, William Rose, Peter Kahn, Ruben Reif, Jim Forsberg, Wolf Kahn, Dorothy Morton, and Aaron Kurzen. She was included in the Young American Printmakers exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art, New York in 1953. The physical demands of carving and hand printing were too great so after seven years she put down her knives and gouges and exchanged them for brushes.

After moving to Northern California in 1951, Haas became affiliated with the San Francisco and Oakland Art Associations and the Arts and Crafts Co-op in Berkeley. She continued to exhibit nationally and she had solo exhibitions at the Dallas Museum of Fine and the Kaiser Aluminum Corporation.

Hildegarde Haas died in Berkeley, California on 25 October 2002.