After studying art in Paris, Hofmann opened an art school in New York City in the 1930s, bringing to his students not only knowledge of traditional European painting but also first-hand experience of the work of such modernist artists as Picasso, Braque, and Kandinsky. As a teacher, Hofmann played a major role in the development of American Abstract Expressionism. His own art, however, did not attain the vigor and exuberance of Twilight until the 1950s, when he was in his seventies. Here, the paint is applied with brush and palette knife—layered, blended, and scraped to produce a surface both physically rich and full of personal emotion. The painting’s title suggests that it may have been inspired by the striking changes in color and light that occur at dusk.

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