Additional information
| Artist | Hansegger |
|---|---|
| Country | American, Swiss |
| Region | North American |
ArtistHansegger,John Konstantin
Artist Years1908-1989
Artist NationalityAmerican, Swiss
TitleAdirondack Landscape
YearCA.1955-60
MediumPainting > Oil
Dimensions24 X 30 inches
Description
Oil on Academy board, signed lower right.
NotesLike his friend Pablo Picasso, Swiss-American painter John Konstantin Hansegger (1908-1989) was never content to limit his reach to the movement of the moment, continually adding new styles to his repertoire, several of them of his own invention. In his native Switzerland he was a child prodigy, influenced by Ferdinand Hodler and Albert Anker and garnering acclaim for his realistic landscapes and portraits. By 1932 he had found his way to the avant-garde scene in Paris, encouraged by Picasso, Leger and Mondrian as he mastered cubism and surrealism.
In 1936 he painted his famous portrait of Pablo Picasso from a live sitting--a rare honor, with a brilliant result. Then, challenged by Picasso to invent his own style, Hansegger created the unprecedented Abstract Parallels series, a style he would continue to refine for the rest of his life. This style, in part gestural Action Painting and in part Color Field, anticipated the later development of Abstract Impressionism in America.
Hansegger’s insistence on maintaining the artistic freedom to vary his styles as he saw fit admittedly made life difficult for gallerists who preferred a more ordered approach. In the end, it results in a far richer artistic legacy than would otherwise have been the case, and in actuality there is far more consistency to Hansegger’s work than meets the eye. He never abandoned a style after he moved on to a new one, but instead returned to each one again and again over the years, continuing each series as a steady stream of work throughout his career, often blending one style with another. Many of the motifs that first appeared in his cubist and surrealist work in the 1930’s also appeared in his Abstract Parallels, and later migrated to his Art Konkret and Ornamentalist work, making it relatively easy to identify a Hansegger throughout the decades. Here is a brief guide to a few of his more important styles.