Armin C. Hansen
American, 1886-1957

Armin Hansen’s art education began with his father, Hermann Wendelborg Hansen, famous for his depictions of Native Americans and the frontier life of the West. He later studied at Mark Hopkins Institute (San Francisco) under Arthur Mathews and at the Royal Academy (Stuttgart), under Grethe. He spent the next four years in Nieuport, Belgium on the North Sea painting the harsh life of the fishermen–cementing his subject matter. It was here he began exhibiting and winning acclaim for his paintings at major European exhibitions, and there that he took up etching. In 1912 Hansen returned to San Francisco, subsequently moving to Monterey the following year where he settled, painting and teaching.

Hansen taught private classes in Carmel and was instrumental in forming the Carmel Art Association. His etchings and paintings of marine, coastal scenes and the Monterey fishing industry brought him to the pinnacle of fame in American Art.

He was elected an Associate of the National Academy of Design in 1926 and a National Academician in 1948. He was a member of the “Big Four” on the Monterey Peninsula along with William Ritschel, Paul Dougherty and Arthur Hill Gilbert.

Member: San Francisco Art Association; California Society of Etchers; Allied Art Association; Salmagundi Club, New York; Societe Royal Des Beaux Arts, Brussels. 

Public Collections: Cleveland Museum of Art; M.H. de Young Memorial Museum, SF; Library of Congress; Los Angeles County Museum of Art; Monterey Peninsula Museum of Art; Newark Museum; National Academy of Design; The Oakland Museum; San Diego Museum of Art; San Francisco Museum of Art