Ejnar Hansen: Family at Dinner Mural Study

Ejnar Hansen: Family at Dinner. Mural study, "Message of Sorrow." 47 x 24. oil on board, circa 1937. Here Hansen is attempting a marriage of classical form to a universal theme, the delivery of bad news: the people feel modern although the clothes are not. Perhaps this was a post office commission and this is his reaction against the prevailing WPA aesthetic. It certainly is a fascinating work, elegant and balanced and formal, yet bursting with emotion. And maybe too much for the post office, maybe not the message THEY wanted to deliver. Other studies, particularly "California Mural Study" which perhaps tells the first part of the story, share this theme: the variations are fascinating.