Biography

Ejnar Hansen's career trajectory was different from that of most New Deal artists. He was an immigrant, but he did not arrive in the United States until age 30, by which time he was already supporting himself as a painting contractor and a portrait painter. Hansen had trained at the Royal Academy in Copenhagen, and was an admirer of Edvard Munch. He joined "De Tretten," a group of 13 painters modeled along the lines of the "Salon des Refusés". Members of De Tretten challenged the standards of academic painting and instead followed such trends as expressionism and cubism.

After living for a decade in the American Midwest, Hansen moved to Pasadena, CA, where he became a successful portraitist, all the while maintaining his contracting business. He taught art at several schools in the Pasadena area and did landscapes and still life paintings along with his portraits. He also undertook plein air painting trips with his colleague Maynard Dixon, traveling to Denmark and to destinations across the American Southwest.

Critical Analysis

Hansen is best known for his strong, if moody, portraits. He was an unmistakable modernist and a master of characterization. He was active in the California Water Color Society and served as an officer of that organization in the 1930s.

Murals

• Lovelock, Nevada - Post Office: The Uncovering of the Comstock Lode

References

1. Ejnar (Einar) Hansen (askART).
2. Ejnar Hansen (LACMA Collections).
3. Ejnar Hansen (painter) (Wikipedia).
4. Ejnar Hansen papers, 1904-1984 (Archives of American Art).
5. Self Portrait Ejnar Hansen Oil On Canvas 1920, Early California Antiques May 27 (2014).