Armin Carl Hansen (American painter) 1886 - 1957
Armin Carl Hansen was born in San Francisco, California on October 23, 1886. He received his first art instruction from his father, Herman Hansen (1854-1924), the famous painter of the old west and frontier life. The younger Hansen later studied at the Mark Hopkins Institute of Art under Arthur Matthews (1901-06), followed by two years in Stuttgart, Germany at the Royal Academy under Carlos Grethe. After visiting the centers of Paris, Munich, Holland, and Belgium he signed-on as deckhand to a Norwegian steam trawler, the first of many boats which he would crew during the next four years, during which he painted around one hundred paintings. Upon returning to San Francisco in 1912, he taught at UC Berkeley and the California School of Fine Arts. Settling in Monterey in 1913, he taught private classes and was instrumental in forming the Carmel Art Institute. Hansen maintained a studio-home at 716 Pacific Street until building a home next door to artist Julian Greenwell on El Dorado Street. He lived there until his death on April 23, 1957. His etchings and paintings of marines, coastal scenes, and the fishing industry of the Monterey Peninsula have brought him to the pinnacle of fame in American art. He was quoted as saying, "Every move I have made and everything that I have done has always been to go back to the water and to the men that gave it its romance. I love them all."
