David Hansen (art historian)

David Hansen (1958 – 2024) was an Australian art historian.

Hansen made notable contributions to the understanding of Australian art history, and curatorship, specialising in early colonial Australian imagery and artwork from the British Regency period.

Hansen died in Hobart, Tasmania, on January 13, 2024.

In 1980, Hansen became the Director of the Warrnambool Art Gallery.

During his tenure, he oversaw the construction of a new gallery, writing and publishing a collection catalogue, and providing support to Australian regional artists.

From 1986 to 1988, Hansen served as the Coordinating Curator for the "The Face of Australia, the Land and the People, the Past & the Present", a major exhibition and publication.

Commissioned by the Australian Bicentennial Authority, this exhibition toured extensively, featuring nearly 300 works from 57 non-State galleries across 10 venues throughout Australia.

His keen artistic judgment led to a catalogue essay for Rick Amor's inaugural museum exhibition in 1990.

Following directorial positions at the Riddoch Art Gallery and the Australian Sculpture Triennial, Hansen joined the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery in Hobart, as Senior Curator from 1994 to 2005.

During this time, he curated many exhibitions on Tasmanian art, from the colonial to contemporary periods.

Notably, his exhibition and publication on the watercolour and artist, John Glover, in 2003 garnered significant recognition of his expertise in the subject.

In recognition of the quality and extent of his scholarly publications, the University of Melbourne awarded him a Doctor of Letters (PhD by publication) in 2004.

Hansen returned to Melbourne as an Australia Council Senior Fellow from 2005 to 2007.

He then moved on to the position of Senior Researcher and Paintings Specialist at Sotheby's from 2007 to 2014.

His final academic appointment was as associate professor at the Centre for Art History and Art Theory, Australian National University, from 2014 to 2022.

Hansen was renowned for his writing, educational prowess, and approach to art and curation.

His research shaped new interpretations of colonial Australian landscape painting and Australian art.

In 2018 his work 'Dempsey's People' was awarded the William M.B. Berger Prize for British Art History.

In 2022 and 2023, Hansen participated in the Attingham Trust Royal Collections Studies program, receiving the Nina Stanton Copland Foundation Scholarship to further his research.

Hansen's final project, an exhibition on the little-known early colonial artist, Charles Rodius, was hosted at the State Library of New South Wales from June 2023 to May 2024.

The exhibition, which built on the research undertaken during his tenure as the inaugural Ross Steele AM Fellow at the Library in 2019, showcased Rodius' vivid portraits of indigenous and non-indigenous subjects.

It is reported that Hansen's book on Rodius was nearing completion at the time of his death in 2024 and will be published posthumously.