Armin Hansen (1886-1957)
Men at Sea
signed 'Armin Hansen' (lower left)
oil on board
20 x 24in
framed 27 x 30in
Footnotes:
Provenance
Acquired directly from the artist.
Private collection, Washington.
Thence to the present owner, Southern California.

Armin Hansen first became acquainted with seafaring culture in his early twenties working on a trawler off the Belgian Coast. Becoming a part of the fishing community in Nieuwpoort not only fulfilled a childhood dream for Hansen but was the catalyst for his maritime body of work—'I began life with two main intentions. One was to paint, the other, to battle the waves. Getting acquainted with salts, young and old, up there on the seacoast I asked a lot of leading questions and soon figured out a way to combine my two desires.' 1

Upon returning to his hometown of San Francisco in 1912, Hansen began exhibiting his paintings of Belgian fisherfolk, which were well-received by the art press and public. Yearning for the maritime culture that he experienced abroad, in 1913, Hansen traveled to Monterey aboard the lumber schooner Eureka.2 Over the next few years, Hansen explored the growing aesthetic possibilities of Monterey. It was not until the fall of 1916, after spending considerable time there, that he began to focus on the fishing culture of the Monterey Peninsula as his chosen subject. By the following summer, his Monterey fishing subjects were quite popular critically and commercially. By 1918, he established a year-round residence in Monterey, and by 1922, he fully settled there. 3

Hansen's mythic persona preceded him, with much attention paid to his robust stature, Danish Viking heritage, and pedigree as the son of the pioneering Western artist Herman Wendelborg Hansen. Once he started producing a body of work focused on the Monterey fishing industry, his critics enthusiastically embraced him for having the perfect attributes for the ruggedness of his chosen subject—'Hansen is a bold painter who, having lived so long with the fishermen, seems to have the sun, fog, salt and spray of their daily life in his very blood.' 4

Hansen's scenes of Monterey's fishermen brought visibility to their livelihood while elevating them as worthy of artistic expression. Unlike his predecessors who romanticized the early California fishing trade, he chose to depict it as it was, reflecting the diversity of its workers, the bustle of a growing commercial fishing port, and modern advancements to the trade. Like George Luks of his time, he was praised by critics for putting his finger on the pulse of modern everyday life—'What is apt to be the true art of any epoch or era? It is quite sure to be the best expression of the life of that epoch or era. That is exactly what [Armin] Hansen seems to be doing. He finds an inspiration in strong men of action rather than in cherubs or angels; he finds drama in the 'Lumber Carriers' and the 'Coal Dock,' and he reveals poetry in the movement of ships going 'Seaward.' 5

Like Winslow Homer before him, Hansen lived the seafaring life of his subjects to reveal their deeper humanity. Hansen's 'depictions often reference humanity's smallness in the face of nature but also suggest the ability of humankind to confront and rival the harshest forces of wind and waves.' 6

Men at Sea exemplifies the artist's interest in focusing on the human element of life on the sea and how it attracts a type of rugged and weathered individualist. These hardworking sailors have a distinct look, carved from many years in the sun and salt. The men and the sea are both depicted as formidable—his fishermen 'both serve the sea and make it serve them.' 7

1 Perry Newberry, 'A Bit of Biography—Armin Hansen, A.N.A.,' Carmel Pine Cone, June 24, 1938.
2 Scott A. Shields, Armin Hansen: The Artful Voyage, Portland, Pomegranate Communications, Inc., 2015, p. 75.
3 Ibid, p. 17.
4 Ibid, p. 31.
5 Ibid, p. 98.
6 Ibid, p. 24.
7 Ibid.