Posts Tagged Art
Edvard Munch (1863-1944)
Posted by admin in Art, culture and literature, Photos and videos on March 4, 2011
Look past icons such as The Scream and Madonna and discover lesser known (but just as fascinating) paintings by the master of expressionism. Personally I have a soft spot for those paintings inspired by Åsgårdstrand, a little seaside village where Munch spent many a summer – Moonlight, Train Smoke, Girls on the Bridge, Melancholy, The Voice, the list goes on. Do check out Munch’s woodcuts and lithographs too, which give a great insight into the man behind the artist. Self-portrait with Skeleton Arm for example is as striking as any of his oil paintings in my opinion. The Munch Museum in Tøyen, Oslo, houses the largest collection of works by Edvard Munch. The good news? Entry is free in winter (1 Oct-31 Mar). Rest of the year Kr95. Opening times vary, see www.munch.museum.no for more info.
Did you know? Edvard Munch’s mother, Laura Cathrine Bjølstad, was born in Fredrikstad, Østfold, in 1837. She married Edvard’s father, Christian Munch, in 1861. He was twice her age. They had five children together, including Edvard, before Laura died of tuberculosis in 1868. She was only 31 years old. Edvard was five. His mother’s premature death, which was followed by that of his favourite sister a few years later, was to have a profound impact on his life and career.
Forgotten gem: Fertility, painted in the late 1890s. Showing a much happier side of Munch’s work, this large scale painting (120 x 140 cm) has mainly remained in private collections in Scandinavia, and made only occasional appearances in a few European and US museum and galleries (as well as at Christie’s auction last year, where it was estimated at US$25-35 million – no buyer was found). A colourful scene depicting a young couple by a tree – a reference to Adam and Eve and the tree of life?
Check out this video featuring a selection of Åsgårdstrand paintings, as well as some black and white photographs of the Vestfold village (Norwegian only) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Un4H1p1SmJ8
The Bjørnstad Ship
Posted by admin in History and architecture on November 13, 2010
At 4.5m long and almost 1m high, the Bjørnstad Ship (Bjørnstadskipet) is an impressive sight, gracing a big vertical rock face a short walk from Haugeveien in Skjeberg, just outside Sarpsborg. This is one of the largest single Bronze Age rock carvings to have been found in Europe. It is flanked by two smaller ships on each side. The small vertical marks on the ship represent the crew, while the big figures at each end carry weapons (and might represent gods). People in the Bronze Age were used to travel, and the rock carvings show how important ships were to them as a means of transportation – as well as for fishing.
How to get there: The Bjørnstad Ship can be found by Haugeveien. Follow Fv583 through Skjeberg, about 3.5km from Hafslund Chapel. The exit towards the car park is signed from the road. From there it’s a 500m walk along a signed path.
Gallery Henrik Gerner, Moss
Posted by admin in Art, culture and literature on October 15, 2010
This well established gallery, a stone’s throw from Møllebyen in Moss, hosts around 10 temporary exhibitions annually. The artworks on display are usually taken from the gallery’s permanent collection, which features many contemporary Norwegian artists, including several local artists. Most of the works are for sale. The gallery represents artists directly, so there is no agent fee, with the exception of a 5% tax on works of a value of over 2,000Kr (a tax raised by all galleries in Norway to help fund the Bildende Kunstneres Hjelpefond, the Relief Fund for Visual Artists). There is a pleasant cafe on the ground floor, Café Brandstrup (www.cafebrandstrup.no), where more works are on display.
Henrik Gerners gate 7. Tel: 69 25 77 75, www.ghg.as. Opening times: Tues-Fri 10am-4pm, Sat-Sun noon-4pm. Free entry. The gallery is on the first floor.
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The current exhibition (16 Oct-7 Nov) features the work of Norwegian artist Camilla Grythe. I love her colourful city scenes – do check out the exhibition if you get the chance! See more of her paintings at http://ghg.as/grythe/index.html
Grete Prytz Kittelsen (1917-2010)
Posted by admin in Art, culture and literature on October 4, 2010
The grande dame of Norwegian design, Grete Prytz Kittelsen, died last month in Oslo, aged 93. But her legacy endures.
Educated at the Norwegian National Academy of Craft and Art Industry (where her dad, Jakob Tostrup Prytz, worked as rector) and at the Institute of Design in Chicago, Kittelsen went on to become one of the most talented designers of her generation. Maybe it was in her genes. She was the fifth generation of goldsmith in the J. Tostrup family firm. Famed for her silver and enamel work, particularly her kitchenware, she was one of the best-known Norwegians in the Scandinavian Design movement.
Kittelsen wanted to bring good design to the masses by making jewellery and everyday objects people could afford, and she pioneered the use of large-scale manufacturing methods later used by industrial designers. She was also known to improvise and make her own tools, using for example a dentist bore to draw on silver, and to create works so big she had to use ovens designed to fire bathtubs.
Kittelsen studied in the US, and her work kept taking her back to the States. Unsurprisingly maybe, her designs were often inspired by American art, characterized by clear, plain colours and simple shapes. Her Lotus enamel bowls, produced in Cathrineholm in Halden, Østfold, in the 1960s, sold in their millions. Today they are collectors’ items. From the factory in Halden hundreds of thousands of her pieces were exported to Sweden, Denmark, Germany, England, the US and Canada, but also to countries as far away as New Zealand, Venezuela and South Africa. Such was her reputation.
Blocks of rock become works of art
Posted by admin in Art, culture and literature, Uncategorized on September 21, 2010
Johansen’s Stone Quarry, Skjeberg
Posted by admin in Art, culture and literature, Uncategorized on September 21, 2010
Ever been to a stone quarry? No, neither had I. Until, urged by a local acquaintance, I visited Johansens Monumenthuggeri in Skjeberg near Sarpsborg last month. Turned out to be very interesting, as it happens. This quarry, the largest of its kind in Norway, produces gravestones, cobble stones and the like, but what makes it really special is that it also attracts its fair share of artists.
Some 80-90 of them come to work here every year, including some big names like Kristian Blystad, one of Norway’s most famous contemporary sculptors. Even Morten Harket and Magne Furuholmen, of a-ha fame, both of whom are keen amateur sculptors, have spent some time here. Really. The quarry even has its own artist in residence, Kazuhiro Nomura, a Japanese sculptor from Nagoya, who has been coming to Norway for several years now. He spends his summers in his outdoor studio at Johansen’s, making good use of the natural light and a vast array of very specialised tools the quarry puts at his disposal.
The quarry imports stones from all over the world, as well as using local stones such as Iddefjord granite or Larvik stone (Larvikitt). The blocks of white Italian marble that were used for the new Opera House in Oslo were cut here. The quarry, now in the hands of the fifth generation of Johansens, handles a lot of similar big projects.
Walking around all these statues in the making is a surreal experience. Behind the workshop is a big open space where discarded artworks await their fate amid big blocks of rock and piles of gravel. Last summer they held a light and sound show here. I can imagine the quarry walls, cut straight in the mountain side, making quite a special background for it. I’ll most certainly check it out next year.
Skjebergveien 206, Klavestadhaugen (offices). Tel: 69 16 36 33, www.johansenmonument.no. Visits by appointment only.
Must-see exhibition at Soli Brug, Sarpsborg
Posted by admin in Art, culture and literature, News, Photos and videos on August 28, 2010