Flower Meadow in the North

  • Artist: Harald Sohlberg
  • Creation date: 1905
  • Object type: Painting

Not on display

Artist/producer

Harald Sohlberg

Visual artist

Born 1869 in Oslo, death 1935 in Oslo

Harald Sohlberg’s motifs from Rondane and Røros have given Norway its ”national painting” and helped Røros to be designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Harald Sohlberg had his first encounter with Rondane in 1899. His experience of winter in the mountains was decisive in his further development as an artist. He painted many motifs from Rondane, and indeed the most successful work of his career was Vinternatt i Rondane (Winter Night in the Mountains), which on several occasions has been named Norway’s “national painting”.

Røros

Sohlberg and his wife, Lilli Hennum, lived in Røros in the early 1900s. The streets and the church in Røros are familiar motifs in his paintings. Solberg’s paintings from Røros attracted widespread attention, and were one of the elements that prompted the restoration of Røros Mining Town to its original appearance. Røros Mining Town and the Circumference district were protected in 1980 and designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Early Talent

Sohlberg was the eighth of twelve children in his family. His parents were wealthy, and belonged to the upper class in the country’s capital, where his father ran a fur shop. Sohlberg spent a lot of time drawing as a child, and artists among the family’s circle of friends saw that he was talented. He was trained as a decorative painter at the National College of Art and Design from 1885 to 1889. In the autumn of 1891 Sohlberg studied under Erik Werenskiold and Eilif Peterssen. He was intent on becoming an artist.

In 1894 he made his debut at the National Art Exhibition with the painting Natteglød (Evening Glow). Later that year he studied under Harriet Backer, and in 1895 he received a government grant for artists and left for Paris.

Summer landscape

Starting in 1905 Sohlberg and his family, which by that time included several children, lived mainly in Kristiania (later Oslo), apart from summer holidays in various coastal towns along the Kristiania Fjord. Landscapes were Sohlberg’s most important source of motifs, and several of his landscapes were inspired by these summer holidays, for example Fra Oslofjorden (View of the Oslofjord) (1926).

Depicted place

Work info

Creation date:
1905
Other titles:
En blomstereng nordpå (NOR)
Object type:
Materials and techniques:
Olje på lerret
Material:
Dimensions:
  • Height: 96 cm
  • Depth: 2 cm
  • Width: 111 cm
Keywords:
Classification:
Motif:
Motif - type:
Motif - location:
Inventory no.:
NG.M.00692
Cataloguing level:
Single object
Part of exhibition:
Kunstaudiens. Nasjonalmuseet i Kunststallen, An Audience with Art. The National Museum at the Queen Sonja Art Stable, 2021
The Magic North. Finnish and Norwegian Art around 1900, 2015
Livets dans. Samlingen fra antikken til 1950, 2011 - 2019
Munch e lo spirito del Nord. Scandinavia nel secondo Ottocento, 2010 - 2011
A Mirror of Nature. Nordic Landscape Painting 1840-1910, 2008
Exhibition, 2007 - 2008
Naturens speil. Nordisk landskapsmaleri 1840-1910, 2007
Naturens spegel. Nordiskt landskapsmåleri 1840-1910, 2006
Naturens spegel. Nordiskt landskapsmåleri 1840-1910, 2006 - 2007
Exhibition, 1996
Luz del Norte / Llum del nord, 1995
Luz del Norte / Llum del nord, 1995
Exhibition, 1995 - 1996
Northern light. Realism and symbolism in Scandinavian painting, 1983
Northern light. Realism and symbolism in Scandinavian painting, 1982 - 1983
Northern light. Realism and symbolism in Scandinavian painting, 1982
Jubileumsutstilling 1814–1964, 1964
Acquisition:
Acquired with funds from the A.C. Houen Endowment 1906
Owner and collection:
Nasjonalmuseet for kunst, arkitektur og design, The Fine Art Collections
Photo:
Børre Høstland