Armin Carl Hansen

(1886-1957)

Tug Alongside 25 x 30in framed 35 x 40in

Footnotes

Provenance
Private collection, Wyoming.

Literature
S. A. Shields, Armin Hansen, The Artful Voyage, Pasadena Museum of California Art, 2015, pp. 174-175, illustrated full page color.

At the mere age of six, Armin Carl Hansen, the son of acclaimed Western painter and illustrator, Herman Wendelborg Hansen, knew that he too wanted to "draw things." ¹ Though he may not have known the proper term 'artist' at the time, Hansen developed his skill, vision and ultimately his passion to become one of Northern California's most gifted Impressionists. He was amongst the leading maritime painters in the Monterey region and a founder of the Monterey History and Art Association.

Born in San Francisco in 1886, Hansen was given his first art instruction and a disciplined work ethic from his father, through daily assigned painting or illustrating tasks. ² He later pursued formal training at the Mark Hopkins Institute in 1903, until it was destroyed in the 1906 earthquake. Hansen then embarked to Germany where, after a painting of seagulls on a row of housetops by Carlos Grethe resonated with Hansen's coastal roots, he spent two years under Grethe's tutelage at the Royal Academy in Stuttgart. After which, Hansen set up a small studio in Nieuwpoort, immersed in maritime culture, and financially supporting himself by working on a North Sea trawler and painting in his spare time. ³ Hansen returned to California in 1912, set up a studio and taught at UC Berkeley and the California School of Fine Arts. He initially split his time between his studios in San Francisco and the Monterey Peninsula before finally settling in Monterey in 1918, where he evolved into one of the most distinguished and influential artists in the Monterey art colony.

In contrast to traditional European Impressionists' softer color palettes and chromaticism, Hansen was exceptional in his use of bold strokes of color, embracing motion with a new sense of dynamism. A 1929 Los Angeles Times review praised Hansen as bringing a "welcome dash of speed and color" to the art scene. ⁴

Further distinguishing Hansen from his Californian contemporaries was his subject matter – where the majority of Southern Californian Impressionists focused on tranquil landscapes and avoided labor scenes – Hansen shone a spotlight on the daily struggle of fishermen and the sea. Hansen was an innate storyteller and the narratives of his paintings are easy to quickly comprehend. His portrayals of the sea and humanity's interaction with it were virile and vigorous, simultaneously communicating the power of nature and human fortitude. ⁵

Tug Alongside demonstrates Hansen's rich use of surface and color to portray the drama of the sea. At almost 6'4" and over 250 pounds, art critics like Antony Anderson of the Los Angeles Times felt that the power of Hansen's physical presence almost necessitated the potency of his paintings. Here we see his colors applied in flat blocks with bold, free, brushstrokes. The entire horizon (one quarter of the painting) is the effectively monolithic orange slab of the ship. Here, Hansen depends on scale to impart the awe necessary for the story. He forgoes the sky as it would be superfluous in the moment he depicts. From the perspective of the tiny, yellow slickered figure at the stern of the tug, the orange ship is the sky. The tug moves forward despite the sea and is heeled over as it approaches. No doubt deliberately, the other figure at the bow of the tug is quickly defined by a few brushstrokes of the same orange in the ship. The tug itself is almost all in bluish purple shadows, with matching colors used to depict the smoke pouring out of the stack. However, the monumental ship and the diminutive tug cannot rival the colossal forces the sea brings to bear on these fragile man-made objects. The boats are in perilous waters in danger of being engulfed by a powerful, cold sea. Almost three-quarters of Tug Alongside is the sea. Hansen paints this setting for his narrative, in cool greens and purples with white and yellow strokes defining the crests of the heaving water. Hansen is facilitating a glimpse into the workday struggles of the men of the sea and the bravery it requires.

¹ J. F. Hernandez, Armin Hansen, The Jane and Justin Dart Collection, Monterey Peninsula Museum of Art, California, 1993, p. 8.
² S. A. Shields, Armin Hansen, The Artful Voyage, Pasadena Museum of California Art, California, 2015, p. 59.
³ Ibid, p.17.
⁴ Ibid, p. 31.
⁵ Ibid, p. 29.