El Paseo Gallery Owner Finds Home in Palm Desert

With his hearty smile, Christian Hohmann appears right at home in his El Paseo gallery among a collection of oil paintings and bronze sculptures.

"I have really lived in galleries since I was a child," Hohmann said, recalling his life in Hamburg, Germany, where his parents had an art gallery and where he later opened his own. He said his life has always been full of artists and the excitement of exhibitions.  

"Then my aunt (Indian Wells resident Eva Hart) asked me in 2002 to help with her business (the Hart Gallery). I thought I would come for a year and then go home. But a year became three, then four. And one day I realized, 'I am home,'" he said.

When Eva Hart decided to retire in 2009 and close the Hart Gallery, Hohmann knew what to do, despite the slow economy and a downturn in the fine arts market.

"I thought about it for only a little while, then knew it was time for me to open my own place," he said.

Not being satisfied with having simply a showroom for art, his gallery has become an active workshop for live exhibits.  

"We featured American figurative artist Neil Nagy in an event called The First Hour.  Nagy brought in a live model and a six-by-eighteen foot canvas," Hohmann said. "He showed how an artist goes through their first moments of creativity, from the blank canvas to the sketch to the oils."

Hohmann also had a sculptor's workshop recreated in his gallery, providing the bronze artist, JD Hansen, an opportunity to show her process of creativity. 

"They brought two whole truckloads, her entire studio, including her bench and models with a huge block of clay," he said.

Future enterprises include a showing of the works of renowned actor and artist Armin Mueller-Stahl, in conjunction with screenings of Mueller-Stahl's films at the Palme d'Or.

Hohmann said his philosophy on life as a gallery owner is all about relationships.

"The thing about the art market … it's not just about the business of selling. It's more about the relationships I have with the people, whether they are artists, or collectors or vendors," he said. "These people are my friends."

is a stop on the El Paseo Art Walk, which is set for this Thursday from 5 to 9 p.m., and the first Thursday of every month from October through May.