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

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.

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

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.

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.