Early California Painters of the Monterey Peninsula by Rob Pierce

By Rob Pierce

Since the beginning of the 20th century, the climactic landscape of the Monterey Peninsula has attracted artists from around the world, eager to try their hand at capturing the spirit of the dramatic shoreline. Over the ensuing century, hundreds of artists produced thousands of works, each a unique interpretation of the region’s natural beauty.

After the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, the region was inundated with musicians, writers, painters and other artists who established an artist colony after the bay city was destroyed. The new residents were offered home lots – ten dollars down, little or no interest, and whatever they could pay on a monthly basis. Among the visual artists to participate in the burgeoning arts community were Armin Hansen, Mary DeNeale Morgan, Carl Oscar Borg, Roi Clarkson Colman, William Louis Otte, Rinaldo Cuneo, William Henry Price.

San Francisco native Armin Hansen is generally considered the most significant artist to work in the Monterey Peninsula during the early-and mid-20th century. Stormy Sea (pictured below) depicts a ship struggling through stormy seas. This painting is an excellent example of Hansen’s powerful oceanographic scenes, for which he is best known.

Armin Hansen (1886 - 1957)
"Stormy Sea"
SOLD

Carmel artist Mary DeNeale Morgan was born in San Francisco in 1868, where she became a favorite pupil of William Keith. Morgan attended summer classes in Carmel that were led by William Merritt Chase and later became the Director of the Carmel School of Art from 1917-1925. Equally facile in watercolor, gouache and oil painting, Morgan’s works often feature the windblown trees and rocky coastline of the Monterey Peninsula.

Mary DeNeale Morgan (1868 - 1948)

"Lake Merritt, Oakland"
SOLD

“Monterey Places” Exhibit at the Monterey Museum of Art

An outstanding group of paintings is currently on display through August 29^th, 2016 at the Monterey Museum of Art, Pacific Street. “Monterey Places” presents works from the permanent collection that focus on the beauty and history of Monterey County. The exhibit features early California paintings by influential artists including M. Evelyn McCormick, Charles Rollo Peters, and Armin Hansen, as well as contemporary works by Johnny Apodaca and Andrea Johnson.

Click here to learn more about the exhibit and view some of the works online.

The exhibit also includes a web-based interactive virtual gallery where visitors can “explore and engage with the paintings, and learn more about the specific locations, local histories, and the artists who created them”.

Click here to see the interactive gallery now and discover the paintings and places featured in this fascinating exhibit. 

This is a great opportunity to get personally involved with the artworks on display and to discover, learn, and interact! Visitors to the various current exhibitions are encouraged to write down and share their reactions and thoughts about works on display. There are short films to watch, large-screen slide show presentations, tours given by their enthusiastic, energetic, and well-educated docents, lectures, and even stations set up where you can create your own artworks. It's nice to be reminded that visiting a museum is supposed to be fun, entertaining, inspiring, educational, and exciting! Charlotte Eyerman, hired as the Director in 2013, has been doing a spectacular job of moving the museum boldly forward into the 21^st century, and the staff has been extremely successful at engaging, entertaining, and educating visitors using a combination of technology, creative ideas, and social media.

The Monterey Museum of art is located at 559 Pacific Street, Monterey, CA (831) 372-5477. For additional information and hours, visit their website www.montereyart.org

ARMIN CARL HANSEN

"MARINE PAINTER OF MONTEREY"

William A. Karges Fine Art

Born in San Francisco in 1886, the well-traveled painter and etcher Armin Hansen was less worldly than an explorer of life at sea, both on deck and even more so in capturing the spirit of marine life on canvas.

Armin Hansen
"Fishing Boats"
10 x 14 inches
SOLD

His father Herman Wendleborg Hansen was a distinguished American Western artist himself who provided him with early instruction. Continuing his studies as a formal painter at what would become the San Francisco Art Institute (then the Hopkins Institute of Art) under Arthur Mathews, Armin went on to the Academy of Fine Arts in Munich under Carlos Grethe after the 1906 San Francisco earthquake and subsequent fires destroyed much of his home city. 

Remaining abroad after finishing, Hansen’s attraction to marine life led him to Niewpoort, Belgium, and from there on board as a deckhand on Norwegian fishing trawlers and other commercial vessels.

Armin Hansen
"Stormy Sea"
25 x 28 inches
SOLD

He eventually returned to California and settled in Monterey in 1913. There, eschewing at once the more conservative impressionistic tradition and the modernist trends of his day, Hansen went on to fashion a robust style featuring stoic figures enduring the throng of chaotic seascapes, realized in deep, saturated primary colors and bold angular brushstrokes. 

Armin Hansen
"Aground"
12 1/2 x 15 1/2 inches
SOLD

Although throughout his career his subject matter ranged from oils and etchings of aquarium-like still lifes to landscapes and frenetic rodeo scenes, he is most known for his depictions of Portuguese, Japanese, Sicilian fishermen and boats painted in Monterey, which evince the rugged endurance of men amongst tidal forces and sealed his legacy as one of California’s most important artists of his time.

Armin Hansen
"Cosimo and Pals"
10 x 12 inches
SOLD

Elected to the National Academy of Design in 1926, Hansen moved in circles including the Carmel Art Association, the Monterey School, and the Society of Six. He was one of the best teachers of his day, and taught both C.S. Price and August Francois Gay. He exhibited at the 1915 San Francisco World’s Fair Panama-Pacific International Exposition. While his subject matter took up where art and literature of the preceding century left off, his singular style captured what it was to endure shifting and elemental forces in America and heavily influenced the techniques of the modernist generation that studied under him.

For additional information about this important artist, visit the Crocker Art Museum June 6th through October 11th, 2015 to see the comprehensive exhibit, "Armin Hansen: The Artful Voyage".  This extraordinary collection of nearly 100 paintings was organized by the Pasadena Museum of California Art, and curated by Scott A. Shields, Associate Director and Chief Curator at the Crocker Art Museum in Sacramento.  The collection includes a wide variety of subjects and styles, as well as paintings that have never been seen before by the public.  Call (916) 808-7000 for additional information.

The show will open at the Monterey Museum of Art October 29th, 2015 and continues through March 7th, 2016.  Call (831) 372-5477 for additional information.

Don't miss this extraordinary opportunity to learn more about this unique, exceptionally talented and influential Early California artist.