BIOGRAPHY
The New York Times
By Roja Heydarpour | January 27, 2007
Dan Christensen, an abstract painter best known for his unfettered use of color in various styles, including Color Field painting and lyrical abstraction, died last Saturday in East Hampton, N.Y. He was 64. The cause was heart failure due to polymyositis, a muscle disease, said his wife, Elaine Grove.
In 1967 Mr. Christensen, finding the realism of his classical training restrictive, began using spray guns to paint colorful stacked loops on canvas, a technique that won him critical acclaim. He started by spraying over square pieces of tape, then removing them, creating a grid. The grids turned into tightly coiled loops, which graduated to looser whirls and finally broke into strokes and lines of color.
Mr. Christensen was concerned as much with the interaction of colors as with the process and pleasure of the act of painting, which guided much of his experimentation. The spray paintings soon gave way to saturated blankets of color underneath a coat of dark, and later white, paint, in the early to mid-1970s. He would then use a squeegee to scrape away the top layer and reveal some of the vibrant colors underneath. These works were not as well received as the spray paintings.
Daniel James Christensen was born in Cozad, Neb. He was inspired to be a painter when he took a trip to Denver as a teenager and saw some of Jackson Pollock’s work. Mr. Christensen graduated from the Kansas City Art Institute in Missouri with a B.F.A. in 1964 and started graduate work at the University of Indiana. But he abandoned school and in 1965 moved to New York City, where he began his life’s work.
Mr. Christensen painted until his death. His works are featured in museums including the Museum of Modern Art, the Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco and the Whitney Museum of American Art.
Mr. Christensen is survived by his second wife, Ms. Grove; his sons James and William, of Brooklyn; his son from a previous marriage, Moses Lindebak, of Scottsdale, Ariz.; two sisters, Marilyn David of Estes Park, Colo., and Kay Remus of Omaha; and one brother, Don, of New York City.
1942 Born in Nebraska
2007 Died in East Hampton, NY
Education
1964 BFA, Kansas City Art Institute
SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2024 Berry Campbell, New York, NY, Dan Christensen: Calligraphic Stains and Scrapes
2022 Berry Campbell, New York, NY, Dan Christensen: The Harmonious Turbulence of the Universe
The Painter’s Painter, LewAllen Galleries, Santa Fe, NM
2019 Berry Campbell, New York, NY, Dan Christensen: Early Spray Paintings
LewAllen Galleries, Santa Fe, NM, Dan Christensen: Stains and Loops
2017 Berry Campbell, New York, NY, Dan Christensen: Late Calligraphic Stains
2015 Berry Campbell, New York, NY, Dan Christensen
LewAllen Galleries, Santa Fe, NM, Dan Christensen: Atmospherics
2014 Spanierman Modern, New York, NY, Dan Christensen: Sprays and Stains
2013 Spanierman Modern, New York, NY, Dan Christensen: The Early Sprays: 1967-1969
LewAllen Galleries, Santa Fe, NM, Dan Christensen: The Orb Paintings: 1992-1996
2011 Spanierman Modern, New York, NY, Dan Christensen: The Stain Paintings
Spanierman Modern, New York, NY, The Armory Show-Dan Christensen
LewAllen Galleries, Santa Fe, NM, Dan Christensen-Bars and Scrapes
2009 Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, Kansas City, MO, Dan Christensen: Forty Years of Painting
Sheldon Museum of Art, Lincoln, NE, Dan Christensen: Forty Years of Painting
Spanierman Modern, New York, NY, Dan Christensen: The Plaid Paintings
Lew Allen Galleries, Santa Fe, NM, Dan Christensen Lyrical Spray Canvases: 1960s to the 1990s
2008 Elaine Baker Gallery, Boca Raton, FL
2007 Spanierman Modern, New York, NY
Lew Allen Contemporary, Santa Fe, NM
2005 Scott Foreman Gallery, Atlanta, GA
2004 Ed Thorp Gallery, New York, NY
2002-3 Parrish Art Museum, Southampton, NY
2001-2 Butler Institute of American Art, Youngstown, OH
2000 Salander O'Reilly Galleries, New York, NY
1998 Elaine Baker Gallery, Boca Raton, FL
1994 Doug Drake Gallery, New York, NY
Gallery ISM, Seoul, Korea
1993 ACA Galleries, New York, NY
1987 Lincoln Center Gallery, New York, NY
Meredith Long Contemporary Gallery, NY
1982 Salander O'Reilly Galleries, New York, NY
1978 Meredith Long Contemporary Gallery, NY
1976 Doug Drake Gallery, New York, NY
1970-1 Andre Emmerich Gallery, New York, NY
1969 Andre Emmerich Gallery, New York, NY
1964 BFA, Kansas City Art Institute
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2024 Sponder Gallery, Boca Raton, FL Drips, Stains and Pours
2013 Sponder Gallery, Miami, FL Dan Christensen: Paintings / Jedd Novatt: Sculpture
2010 Baker Sponder Gallery, Boca Raton, FL Dan Christensen: Paintings / Elaine Grove: Sculpture
2006 Spanierman Modern, New York, NY
Weatherspoon Art Museum Greensboro, NC
Leif Hope's Restaurant, 31 Race Lane, East Hampton, NY
2005 Spanierman Gallery, East Hampton, NY
Sideshow Gallery, Brooklyn NY
Joan T. Washburn Gallery and Franklin Parrasch Gallery, New York
Remy Toldedo Gallery, New York NY
Pamela Wilson Gallery, East Hampton, New York
2004 Lizan-Tops, East Hampton, NY
2003 Sideshow Gallery, Brooklyn, New York
Sheldon Memorial Art Gallery, Lincoln, Nebraska
Parrish Art Museum, New York
2002 Lizan-Tops, East Hampton, NY
Sideshow Gallery, Brooklyn, New York
2000 Portland Art Museum, Portland, Or.
1998 Salander-O'Reilly Gallery, New York
O.K. Harris Gallery, New York
1997 Gershwin Gallery, New York
1993 CS. Schulte Galleries, Millburn, New Jersey
Douglas Drake Gallery, New York
Carl Solway Gallery, Cincinnati
1992 Galerie Gerald Piltzer, Paris, France
Vered Art Gallery, East Hampton, New York
1991 Salander-O'Reilly Galleries, Berlin, Germany
1989 Deson-Saunders Gallery, Chicago
Gloria Luria Gallery, Miami, Florida
1985 Douglas Drake Gallery, Kansas City
Museum of Modern Art, New York
SELECTED MUSEUM COLLECTIONS
Albrecht-Kemper Museum of Art Gallery, St. Joseph, MO
Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, NY
Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL
Blanton Museum of American Art,University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX
Boca Raton Museum of Art, Boca Raton, FL
Butler Institute of American Art, Youngstown, OH
Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
Detroit Institute of the Arts, Detroit, MI
Dayton Art Institute, Dayton, OH
Denver Art Museum, Denver, CO
Edmonton Art Gallery, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
Everson Museum of Art, Syracuse, NY
Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, San Francisco, CA
Greenville County Museum of Art, Greenville, SC
Guggenheim Museum, New York, NY
Guild Hall Museum, East Hampton, NY
High Museum of Art, Atlanta, GA
Hirshhorn Museum & Sculpture Garden,Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.
Indianapolis Museum of Art, Indianapolis, IN
The Jepson Center of Contemporary Art, Telfair Museum, Savannah, GA
Johnson Museum of Art, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY
Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, Kansas City, MO
Kunstmuseum, St. Gallen, Switzerland
Ludwig Collection in the Wallraf-Richartz Museum, Cologne, Germany
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Mulvane Art Museum, Washburn University, Topeka, KS
Museum of Art, Fort Lauderdale, Fort Lauderdale, FL
Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, IL
Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, CA
Museum of Fine Arts Boston, Boston, MA
Museum of Nebraska Art, Kearney, NE
Museum of Fine Arts Houston, Houston, TX
Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY
Museum für Moderne Kunst, Frankfurt am Main, Germany
Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO
Pasadena Art Museum, Pasadena, CA
Parrish Art Museum, Southampton, NY
Portland Museum of Art, Portland, OR
San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, CA
Santa Barbara Museum of Modern Art, Santa Barbara, CA
Sheldon Museum of Art, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, NE
St. Louis Art Museum, St. Louis, MO
Seattle Art Museum, Seattle, WA
Spencer Museum of Art, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS
Telfair Museum of Art, Savannah, GA
Toledo Museum of Art, Toledo, OH
Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY
AWARDS/GRANTS
1992 Pollock-Krasner Foundation Grant
1986 Gottlieb Foundation Grant
1969 Guggenheim Fellowship Theodoran Award
1968 National Endowment Grant