Ernst Hansen

Ernst Hansen was a Danish painter, draftsman, illustrator and graphic artist. After an apprenticeship as a painter in Århus, he studied at the Copenhagen Art Academy. He undertook extended expeditions to Greenland and Iceland and painted his impressions. Hansen even took part in Knud Rasmussens’s 7th Thule Expedition. In addition, he painted female nudes, animal pictures and drawings and landscapes, but he also illustrated books on Danish folk songs and poetry.

Hansen was guided by Viking ornaments and medieval art. According to the signature, the “Portrait: Knud Rasmussen” was created in 1932. This lithograph has a format of 52 x 46 cm. “Isbjørnejagt” is a 1928 painting and was probably painted on one of his trips to Greenland. Nordic animals such as polar bears appear in many of his graphics.