Ancestral Traditions
Norway's earliest artistic manifestations are scattered across a fjord in the far north. Gathered on five sites, the Alta petroglyphs, a Unesco World Heritage site, illustrate the beliefs and daily lives of the first settlers. Discover millennia of history at theAlta Museum.
Centuries later, the Vikings laid one of the foundations of Norwegian culture. Wood carving reached its peak during the High Middle Ages, as demonstrated by the collection at Oslo's Viking Ship Museum, currently closed for renovation. Bas-reliefs adorned everything from portals and carts to ships. The tradition, long perpetuated, evolved from the 19th century onwards towards Dragestil, or dragon style, neo-Viking architecture that integrated pre-Christian culture with these contributions.
Soul Culture
Saami culture is derived from the indigenous peoples who inhabited the vast northern regions stretching as far north as Russia. Their religion, based on shamanism, was trampled underfoot by Christian missionaries in the 13th century. However, their beliefs are still alive and well in Norway. Decorative art, or duodji, plays a major role.
John A. Savio (1902-1938) is recognized as the first Norwegian artist. His woodcuts, or xylographs, illustrate the daily lives of his people: reindeer, wildlife, hunting and skiing. There are also a few portraits, with clean, expressive lines. Savio explored Norway by drawing and painting. At the same time, Nils Nilsson Skum (1872-1951) was drawing similar themes. Savio and Skum were the first artists to disseminate an indigenous view of their culture.
More recently, Iver Jåks (1932-2007) stands at the crossroads of tradition and modernism. His installations, rooted in the duodji, ushered Norwegian culture into a new era. From the 1970s onwards, his creations helped the Sámi assert their identity in a society that was redefining itself.
Today, Sami artists are welcomed at major national and international events. They have their own art center in Norway: the Sámi Dáiddaguovddáš Museum (or Sami Center for Contemporary Art), in Karasjok. Museums and festivals dedicated to the Sami include the Sami Museum at the Museum of Sami Collections in Karasjok, the Sami Museum in Varanger and the Museum of Folklore (Norsk Folkemuseum) in Oslo. The Sami Easter Festival Kautokeino brings together concerts and exhibitions for the whole family to enjoy.
Towards modernism
Until the 19th century, Norwegian painting was exclusively religious, reproducing the codes of foreign schools. The first local trend was landscape painting. It was led by Johan Christian Dahl and Johannes Flintoe. Knud Larsen Bergslien (1827-1908) became famous for his portraits and historical scenes.
Harriet Backer (1845-1932) was an early foreigner. She completed her training in Berlin, then in Italy, before taking part in the 1889 Paris Universal Exhibition, where her work was recognized with a silver medal. In Paris, she rubbed shoulders with the painter Léon Bonnat, who introduced her to Impressionism. Returning to Oslo in 1889, she developed the style that would make her reputation. Her play of light and color can be admired in Pastoral, an 1892 painting exhibited at the National Gallery (Nasjonalgalleriet) in Oslo. In 1890, she founded an art school from which would emerge most of the important painters of the decades to come. Among these, Martin Aagaard (1863-1913), also a pupil of Knud Bergslien, excelled in maritime painting. His works are included in the collections of the Nordmøre Museum and the maritime museums of Trondheim and Bergen. Another pupil of Harriet Becker, Nikolai Astrup (1880-1928) completed his apprenticeship in Paris. Astrup enjoyed a certain renown at the beginning of the twentieth century. A neo-romantic painter and engraver, he produced luminous landscapes and scenes captured in the Jølster region. After becoming a teacher, he guided the so-called "Astrup generation" in Sandastrand, which included Elias Eide, Johan Indrekvam, Toralv Flatjord and Malfinn Berquam. This artistic period is highlighted in theLillehammer Kunstmuseum.
Munch's symbolism
It was against this backdrop that the most famous of Scandinavian artists put painting at the service of his emotions. With Edvard Munch (1863-1944), life and work become one. A tormented character pursued by death, he exalts his anguish through a singular style. Munch grew up in Oslo in a well-to-do family. As a child, he lost his mother and then his sister, and was taken in by an aunt who encouraged him to draw. Munch attended the Royal School of Drawing, then the plein air studio run by Frits Thaulow. He then embarked on a journey across Europe. In Paris, he was struck by the works of Paul Gauguin and Vincent Van Gogh. Back in Oslo, he was plagued by psychological problems.
In 1893, he painted The Scream (tempera on cardboard, 91 x 73.5 cm), now on view at the National Gallery (Nasjonalgalleriet) in Oslo. Legend has it that this figure, howling under a tortured sky, appeared to him during a walk. The figure, which has something universal about it, evokes a howl buried within each of us.
A Symbolist painter and forerunner of Expressionism, Munch marked a break with the past by abandoning appearance in favor of psychology, moods and feelings. The death, melancholy and anguish that haunted him called for innovative pictorial forms. He regularly took part in exhibitions that caused a scandal. In the process, his reputation spread beyond Norwegian borders. An innovative graphic artist, he explored other techniques, including photography and short films. At the end of his life, Munch tried his hand at landscape painting, even though he suffered from impaired vision. He painted many self-portraits throughout his career. In one of the last, Self-Portrait, Between Clock and Bed, the artist depicts himself caught between time and bed, between old age and eternal rest. Classified as a degenerate artist by the invading Nazis, Munch bequeathed his work to the city of Oslo before dying in solitude in 1944. Several of Munch's major works are on display at KODE - Bergen Art Museums, one of Scandinavia's leading museums. Most of the 28,000 works in the artist's collection are housed in the Munch Museum (Munch Museet) in Oslo, completely renovated by Juan Herrero and opening in October 2021. Standing more than 60 meters above the ground, the sloping building pierces the urban skyline.
Note the series of paintings by Andy Warhol based on the work of Edvard Munch, exhibited at the Haugar Vestfold Kunstmuseum in Tønsberg.
Art in the open air
Sculpture parks appeal to hikers and culture buffs alike. The Vigeland Park (Vigeland Sparken) in Oslo's Frognerparken features 214 bronze, wrought-iron and granite sculptures by Gustav Vigeland (1869-1943). All strikingly realistic, they complement a visit to the Vigeland Museum (Vigeland Museet), dedicated to the sculptor, and the intriguing Emanuel Vigeland Museum, near the mansion built by Gustav's brother Emanuel Vigeland. Intended to house his paintings and sculptures, the building eventually became his mausoleum. An extraordinary museum!
Just a short streetcar ride from central Oslo lies Ekebergparken. In this park dedicated to the arts, nature in all its glory conceals works by internationally renowned artists. Sculptures by Louise Bourgeois, James Turrell, Sarah Lucas and Damien Hirst share these natural spaces with ancient ruins and rock engravings.
Let's continue our stroll with a discovery of Norwegian urban art. Long rejected, street art has been flourishing in Norway's cities and remoter regions for the past decade. Notable Norwegian street artists include Dolk, TEG and Argus in Bergen, Pøbel in Stavanger, and Martin Whatson and DOT DOT DOT in Oslo.
Municipalities fund projects that make it easier for the public to welcome this chromatic explosion. Every September, the Nuart Street Art Festival puts the city of Stavanger in the colors of urban art, including buses. All year round, Stavanger remains a must-see stop.
In the streets of Oslo, local and international graffiti artists combine their talents to maintain the originality of its street art. The city offers an interactive map to help you find your way around. A hint? The Tøyen district offers a high concentration of urban art. In fact, it's being organized as a future open-air street art museum. The city of Bergen is also renowned as a hot spot.
Norwegian urban art is not confined to the cities. Up north, in the Lofoten Islands, abandoned buildings are home to the Ghetto spedalsk project by Dolk and Pøbel. Their aim is to raise awareness of the depopulation of rural areas.
At the southernmost tip of Norway, the Dutch district of Flekkefjord boasts shimmering frescoes that stand out against the whiteness of the old wooden houses.
Contemporary art
Norway's contemporary art scene is remarkably dynamic. Its vigor is reflected in the number of exhibition venues. In addition to countless public and private museums, artist run spaces are multiplying.
Rolf Aamot, born in Bergen in 1934, was one of the pioneers, exploring painting, photography and music. A pioneer of electronic painting, he combines the performing arts, music and visual arts. His electronic images incorporate his photographic work. Electromagnetic energies produce shapes and colors. In Norway, his work can be seen at KODE - Bergen Art Museums. Since 1980, multimedia artist Pia Myrvold has gained international renown.
Norwegian art from 1960 to the present day is beautifully showcased in Oslo at the Astrup Fearnley Museum, a private collection housed in a building designed by Renzo Piano. Contemporary Norwegian, European and American artists are featured in temporary exhibitions. Among the highlights of the permanent collection is Anselm Kiefer's monumental sculpture The High Priestess.
Photography and history blend harmoniously at the Preus Museum in Horten. In these former naval warehouses, all the eras of photography are evoked through prints and equipment. Among the great Norwegian photographers represented: Anders Beer Wilse (1865-1949) documented the Norway of yesteryear; photojournalist Elisabeth Meyer (1899-1968), famous for taking the first images of Gandhi; Morten Krogvold (b. 1950) and his portraits of celebrities; Dav Aleng (b. 1953, Oslo), whose black-and-white landscapes are seen around the world.
In Stavanger, the aptly named MUST houses Jan Groth's collection of art from the 1960s to the present day. A major panorama essential to understanding the Norwegian creative spirit!
