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In 1948 Hans Hofmann wrote the essay The Search for the Real in the Visual Arts in which the lifelong teacher and theorist outlined his thoughts on the formal aspects of painting. Hofmann believed that a painting should remain true to its two-dimensional form, rather than containing three-dimensional perspective. Interest could be added to a painting through contrasting shapes, colors, and textures, which Hofmann termed “push and pull.” This is displayed in Poème d’amour through the contrasting use of dripped paint and rigid geometric forms.