Exposition in San Francisco. Later there were two major retrospective exhibitions of Hansen's work. The first, held at Pasadena Art Museum in 1956, celebrated a half century of creativity. Following his death, there was a centenary retrospective in 1984 at the James M. Hansen gallery in Santa Barbara. Painting The subject matter of Hansen's art included landscapes, still-lives, portraits and figure paintings. Although his palette brightened with the move to California, a dark Expressionist energy persisted at all periods in his work. It is to be found in the sombre "The Cabin" of 1916, soon after his arrival in the U.S.; in the later still life titled "Spring Harvest"; and in the expressive figure study titled "The Metaphysician", of which there also exists a photo of a more conventional preliminary study dated 1941. Given Hansen's origin, it is not surprising that his plein air work includes detailed studies of farmhouses, barns and shacks, but his portraits are also outstanding. Bram Dijkstra, discussing this aspect of Hansen's work in his 1996 article on Early Modernism in Southern California, describes him as painting "startling character studies of tormented or eccentric men and world-weary young women on the edge of disintegration. These paintings, which capture much of the neurotic tension of modern life, are among the finest examples of twentieth-century portraiture." The Ejnar Hansen papers are now held in the Smithsonian Archives of American Art. References Further reading Arthur Miller, "Ejnar Hansen Interviewed," American Artist 14 (October 1950): 28–33, 62 External links Paintings and sculptures at Artnet Paintings and sculptures at Invaluable con Paintings, drawings and prints at Live Auctioneers 1884 births 1965 deaths Danish emigrants to the United States American male painters American portrait painters Artists from Copenhagen Artists from Pasadena, California Painters from California 20th-century American painters 20th-century American male artists