1990s Paintings

Dan Christensen (1942-2007) is widely recognized as one of America’s foremost color abstractionists. Over the course of forty years as an artist, Christensen was devoted to exploring and expanding the constantly shifting trends of 20th century abstraction. Christensen established his reputation at the end of the 1960s, as began using spray guns to create colorful stacks, loops, and lines in his artworks. This body of work was considered by the legendary art critic Clement Greenberg among the most original abstract paintings of the decade. Unlike many of his contemporaries who dedicated their practice to a signature style, Christensen was unrelentingly curious and allowed his dynamic version of abstraction to evolve as he tried new techniques and aesthetics. During the 1980's and 1990's in particular, Christensen focused on experimenting with different forms of washing, spraying, and layering colours over top of each other. The works from Christensen's late period combine the gestural drama of Abstract Expressionism with the stained surface look popularized by the color field artists. The aesthetic complexity he achieved with these combined techniques are perfectly demonstrated in this later untitled work (aka "Grape Crush...