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

SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS

2008    Elaine Baker Gallery

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

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

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

The Butler Institute of American Art, Youngstown, Ohio

Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, NY

Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA

Edmondton Art Gallery, Alberta Canada

Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, NY

Hirschorn  Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington, D.C.

Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, Kansas City, Missouri

Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago

Whitney Museum of American Art, New York

Museum of Modern Art, NY

Seattle Art Museum, Seattle, WA

St. Louis Art Museum, St.Louis, MO

AWARDS/GRANTS

Guggenheim Fellowship

National Endowment for the Arts Grant

Pollock-Krasner Foundation Grant