Exploring Scandinavia

After completing her training as a sculptor in 1949, Aase Texmon Rygh became one of the pioneers of abstract sculpture in Norway. But she spent many years waging a quiet struggle to gain a hearing for the sculptural forms that had long been prevalent in Europe. For years she could adorn herself with the title “Norway’s most rejected sculptor”. She was almost considered a leper in an otherwise healthy and naturalistic and reactionary artist environment.

Aase Texmon Rygh (1925 – 2019) has dedicated her career to developing an abstract idiom, exploring in particular the properties of the Möbius strip and translating them to sculpture. Her series of Möbius sculptures is based on a geometric phenomenon discovered by the nineteenth-century German mathematician August Ferdinand Möbius: in essence, a strip is held firm at one end and rotated once around itself, before the two ends of the strip are joined together, thus creating an infinity loop.

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She was educated at the Norwegian National Academy of Art in 1944 – 46 and at The Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts in Copenhagen in 1948 – 49. Central to the artist’s oeuvre is an exploration of what Texmon Rygh calls ‘form principles’, and the balance between formal expression and the properties of the material.

In his book about Aase Texmon Rygh, art history professor Øivind Storm Bjerknes writes that “despite Texmon Rygh being the pioneer among Norwegian sculptors when it came to abstraction, Arnold Haukeland was given much of the credit for the breakthrough.”

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Texmon Rygh created her sculptures in bronze as well as in stone. She has made not only single Möbius strips, but also double and triple ones, some lying and some standing. She refined the form by rotating the sculpture and adding additional loops. These sculptural variations are complex, with extra dimensions of spatiality.

Her explorations began early on; over the early years, her style moved rapidly towards further simplification and abstraction, where variations of geometric and symbolically charged forms – like the yin and yang shape, and especially the Möbius strip – recur in numerous varieties. For Texmon Rygh, these forms hold interest as expressions of cosmic and mathematical principles, and as such the deep forces of nature and man.

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A decade and a half was to pass from her debut in 1950 until she became a member of the Norwegian Sculptors’ Association, which was completely dominated by naturalistic sculptors, and thus received public decorating assignments. If the criticism was positive, her application for membership in the Young Artists’ Society (Unge kunstneres samfund) was rejected and her exhibition applications were often rejected. Her short stay at the Academy of Fine Arts under Professor Per Palle Storm’s catheter, threatened to take away from her both self-confidence and enthusiasm.

Until her death, Texmon Rygh stayed active as an artist and in recent years her work received increasing national and international recognition. In 2001 she was appointed a Knight, First Class of the Order of St. Olav, and in 2012 she was represented at the Documenta exhibition of international contemporary art in Kassel, Germany. In 2016 she was included in Skulptur i Pilane, Sweden, and in October 2016 the Norwegian National Museum of Art opened the traveling solo exhibition Evighetens form (The Form of Eternity).

Norway’s Most Rejected Sculptor, written by Tor Kjolberg

Feature image (on top): Aase Texmon Rygh and her sculpture of eternity. Photo: National Museum, Oslo

The Norwegian national poet Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson (1832-1910) received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1903 “as a tribute to his noble, magnificent and versatile poetry, which has always been distinguished by both the freshness of its inspiration and the rare purity of its spirit”. He was also one of the first Norwegian celebrities to be hunted by photographers. Here is a brief story and some famous portraits of the Norwegian national poet.

Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson was born at the farmstead of Bjørgan in Kvikne, a secluded village in the Østerdalen district, some sixty miles south of Trondheim. In 1837 Bjørnson’s father Peder Bjørnson, who was the pastor of Kvikne, was transferred to the parish of Nesset, outside Molde in Romsdal. It was in this scenic district that Bjørnson spent his childhood, living at the Nesset Parsonage.

Related: A Norwegian Heritage

Bjørnson was a poet, dramatist, novelist, journalist, editor, public speaker, theatre director, and one of the most prominent public figures in Norway of his day. He is generally known, together with Henrik Ibsen, Alexander Kielland, and Jonas Lie, as one of “the four great ones” of 19th-century Norwegian literature. His poem “Ja, vi elsker dette landet” (“Yes, We Love This Land”) is the Norwegian national anthem (music by Rikard Nordraak).

From his breakthrough in 1857 until his death in 1910, Bjørnstjerne Martinius Bjørnson was a national celebrity and pop star in Norway, the Nordic countries and Europe. He became famous and infamous for all he stood for, poet, nation builder and peacemaker. And a party pooper, troublemaker and womanizer. But in the many photographs of him, there is mostly only one Bjørnson who appears.

After a few years studying in Molde, Bjørnson was sent at the age of 17 to Heltberg Latin School (Heltbergs Studentfabrikk) in Christiania to prepare for university. This was the same school that trained Ibsen, Lie, and Vinje.

From the start, his writing was marked by clearly didactic intent; he sought to stimulate national pride in Norway’s history and achievements and to present ideals. For the first 15 years of his literary career, he drew his inspiration from the sagas and from his knowledge of contemporary rural Norway. He exploited these two fields in what he described as his system of “crop rotation”: saga material was turned into plays, contemporary material into novels or peasant tales. The early products of this system were the peasant tale Synnøve Solbakken (1857; Trust and Trial, Love and Life in Norway, and Sunny Hill), the one-act historical play Mellem slagene (1857; “Between the Battles”), and the tales Arne (1858) and En glad gut (1860; The Happy Boy) and the play Halte-Hulda (1858; “Lame Hulda”).

The first pictures of Bjørnson originate from the childhood of photography. Taking a picture at the time was a laborious process, and the poet had full control over the photographic situation.

After he had matriculated at the University of Oslo in 1852, he soon embarked upon a career as a journalist, focusing on criticism of drama.

At the close of 1857 Bjørnson had been appointed director of the theatre at Bergen, a post which he held for two years, when he returned to Christiania.

From 1860 to 1863 he travelled widely throughout Europe. Early in 1865 he undertook the management of the Christiania Theatre, and brought out his popular comedy of De Nygifte (The Newly Married) and his romantic tragedy of Mary Stuart in Scotland. He married the actress Karoline Reimers in 1858 and also became the editor of the Bergenposten. Partly because of his activity with this paper, the Conservative representatives were defeated in 1859 and the path was cleared for the formation of the Liberal Party a short time later.

After traveling abroad for three years, Bjørnson became director of the Christiania Theatre, and, from 1866 to 1871, he edited the Norsk Folkeblad.

Bjørnson was a leader of the spirit who wanted to change Norway as a nation and change Europe based on the avlues of the Nordic countries. He was very strong in his convictions, and he posed in a way that built up under that image.

Between 1864 and 1874, Bjørnson displayed a slackening of the intellectual forces very remarkable in a man of his energy; he was mainly occupied with politics and with his business as a theatrical manager. This was the period of Bjørnson’s most fiery propaganda as a radical agitator. In 1871 he began to supplement his journalistic work by delivering lectures throughout Scandinavia.

Bjørnson’s political battles and literary feuds took up so much of his time that he left Norway in order to write. The two dramas that brought him an international reputation were thus written in self-imposed exile: En fallit (1875; The Bankrupt) and Redaktøren (1875; The Editor). Both fulfilled the then current demand on literature (stipulated by the Danish writer and critic Georg Brandes) to debate problems, as did the two dramas that followed: Kongen (1877; The King) and Det ny system (1879; The New System).

It is easy to recognize Bjørnson’s hair style in the portraits of him. The hair is somehow straight up in front of the head. His comrades called his hair Romsdalshorn, after the mountain. He is often depicted wearing glasses on his nose, a bow around his neck and a watch chain over his chest. Always a hat on if he was out, Bjørnson liked hats very much.

In the 1870’s Bjørnson and the composer Edvard Grieg, who shared his interests in Norwegian self-government, became friends. Grieg set several of his poems to music, including Landkjenning and Sigurd Jorsalfar.  Eventually they decided on an opera based on King Olav Trygvason, but a dispute as to whether music or lyrics should be created first, led to Grieg being diverted to working on incidental music for Henrik Ibsen’s play Peer Gynt, which naturally offended Bjørnson . Eventually their friendship was resumed.

He died on 26 April 1910 in Paris, where for some years he had spent his winters, and was buried at home with every mark of honor. The Norwegian coastal defence ship Norge was sent to convey his remains back to his own land.

Portraits of the Norwegian National Poet, written by Tor Kjolberg

Located on Oslo’s western waterfront, the $723m museum will be the biggest in the Nordic region when it opens on 11 June. When Norway’s $723 million mega museum open after eight-year wait, you can experience older and modern art, contemporary art, architecture and design all under one roof and in completely new ways.

The museum, which has been in the works for seven years, brings the collections of three of Norway’s most important art institutions—the former Kunstindustrimuseet, the Museum of Contemporary Art, and the National Gallery – under one roof. Among its gems are an impressive selection of work by Edward Munch, including The Scream. The former Kunstindustrimuseet closed in 2016; the Museum of Contemporary Art closed in 2017; and the former National Gallery closed in 2019.

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From its “grey box-like” appearance and eye-popping price tag to protracted construction delays, Norway’s new National Museum has kept the critics busy.

In spite of appealing praises on the museum’s website like “the new museum will be a place for new ideas, inspiration and compelling cultural experiences. We will make art accessible to everyone and reflect the society and the times we live in,” critics claim that ‘German-Italian architect Klaus Schuwerk has spent a fortune and eight years building what has been panned by some as a slate-covered grey box’.

However, in the new museum you will find arts and crafts and design from antiquity to the present day. Here, you can familiarize yourself with everything from the unique Baldishol tapestry and Chinese imperial porcelain to fashion through the ages and the unique Norwegian glass cups of the 18th century – not to mention the latest in contemporary design and arts and crafts.

Related: A Collection in the Making at the National Museum in Oslo

Across 13,000 sq meters of exhibition space there will be 5,000 works on show at the site off Oslo’s Rådhusplassen, making it bigger than Amsterdam’s Rijksmuseum or the Guggenheim in Bilbao. Older and modern art, architecture, design, arts and crafts, and contemporary art will be presented under one roof and in new settings.

Ahead of its official opening, the museum—eager to commune with the public after years of delays – has opened its doors early to allow visitors to venture inside while the art is being installed. “We are inviting visitors to join us and have a look inside while the art is being mounted and the museum is taking shape,” the museum’s director Karin Hindsbo said in a statement. “That we have not met the audience’s expectations in recent years, I’m sorry,” she wrote in 2020.

With its new, large exhibition areas, the National Museum can now showcase more of its collection than ever before, as well as presenting a rich program of temporary exhibitions with Norwegian and international artists.

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The vast new building has two stories and 90 galleries, cafés, a shop, and the largest art library in the Nordic region. But its architectural hallmark is a spectacular new illuminated exhibition space on the roof called the Light Hall. The 2,400-square-meter space will be reserved for temporary exhibitions, the first of which will be a survey of Norwegian contemporary art. The museum also boasts an open-air roof terrace from where you can enjoy stunning views of Rådhusplassen (city hall square), Aker Brygge and the fjord.

The museum plaza in front of the main entrance will be a vibrant urban space and meeting arena with an outdoor restaurant, seating and events.

The second floor is dominated by the visual arts, from Dutch and Flemish landscape paintings to still life paintings from the 17th century and Johan Christian Dahl’s 19th-century landscape masterpieces.

Built by Norway’s government building commissioner Statsbygg, the museum has also prioritized sustainability, designed to emit 50 percent less greenhouse gasses than current building standards.

Norway’s $723 Million Mega Museum To Open After Eight-Year Wait, written by Tor Kjolberg

Feature image (on top): Photo Wikipedia