Christine Hansen was a self-taught British artist hailing from Lancashire. She was pulled towards the rugged, captivating drama of the coasts of Britain with magnetic force. North Wales in particular served as an affinity for her atmospheric creations.
Little is unfortunately known about Hansen’s early life. It seems, however, that she engaged with artistic circles both in her home county of Lancashire and throughout the North of England. She exhibited at the Walker Gallery in her hometown of Liverpool and was also a member of the Yorkshire Union of Artists. In 1926, she is listed as living near Leeds, Yorkshire.
She also participated in exhibits in Scotland, displaying her work in exhibits by the Royal Scottish Academy, and the McLellan Galleries in Glasgow.
Down south, too, she could be found to exhibit. In London, she showed her work at the Royal College of Art, and was a member of the Allied Artists’ Association, which promoted the fair exhibit of any works by any person, without having to go through a selective jury first.
Hansen would also exhibit with the Royal Cambrian society, based in Conway, Wales. Following this, she moved to live in Colwyn, North Wales, in 1938. It seems that the allure of the dramatic coastline proved rich artistic sustenance. She was ‘clearly at her best in depicting the rugged majesty of the North Wales mountain passes and the crags and inlets of our broken coastline,’ the local press would report. In several solo exhibitions held by Hansen in the area during the later years of her life, much praise was given to her emotional, ‘restless and sensitive’ style.
Hansen summons waves with bold, striking impasto. A shimmering array of blues all meld together in a cunning concoction. Combined with the heaviness of the paint upon the surface, it appears as if the sea is warping and whipping itself up upon the canvas. In a careful selection of ochres and umbers, a coastal town stands sentinel next to the epic majesty of the water. Boats bob and toss with a graceful detail to form and figure, small fisherman looking vulnerable, cast about on the swell.
Hansen would live in Colwyn until her death in 1968.
1872/1873
Born in West Derby, Lancashire.
1914
Exhibited at the Royal Scottish Academy.
1926
Exhibited at the Royal Cambrian Academy of Art.
1938
Moved to Llysfaen, Colwyn, Wales.
1946
Exhibited at the Colwyn Bay Sketching Club.
1950
Solo exhibition of works held at Church House, Old Colwyn, Wales.
1952
Solo exhibition of works held at Gwrych Castle, Wales.
1968
Died in Llysfaen, Colwyn, Wales.