Saprissa - Christensen, Dan

Fine Art

Christensen, Dan

Daniel James Christensen was born in Cozad, Nebraska, in 1942, to a mother who taught art and math and a father who was a farmer. After high school, he attended Chadron State College in northwest Nebraska. There he studied with William Artis, a ceramist and illustrator. In 1960, he enrolled at the Kansas City Art Institute, where he was classically trained in figural rendering, receiving instruction in drawing from Wilbur Niewald and painting from Robert Barnes. Valedictorian of his class, he graduated with his B.F.A. in 1964.

In the summer of 1965, he moved to New York, where he found himself at the center of a dynamic, collaborative art scene. Abandoning figural art, he joined other young artists in challenging the status quo and seeking to change the course of art. Christensen developed several styles, including plaids, slabs, calligraphic stains, and orbs. His early sprays struck a nerve in the New York art world, receiving a remarkable amount of attention. Between 1967 and 1970, they were not only featured in several solo exhibitions in New York galleries, but were also included in annuals at the Whitney, Guggenheim, and Corcoran museums. In 1969, he was given a solo exhibition at Galerie Ricke, received a Theodoran Award from the Guggenheim Museum, and was represented in important exhibitions at the Aldrich Museum of Contemporary Art, Ridgefield, Connecticut, the Saint Louis Art Museum, and Washington University Gallery of Art, St. Louis.

Our example features a dark purple base with white swirls surrounded by pops of color from the use of orange, yellow, blue, and green. It exemplifies his signature style of vibrant, abstract expressionism with various colors. Large, sweeping gestures of white paint represent his exploration of form and color to create a sense of depth and energy.