Krag’s large-format drawings are on display in the Gallery of Prints and Drawings. Through her detailed and atmospheric landscapes, Krag depicts the area around Rosendal. Her drawings also raise questions about ecology, nature conservation, history and artistic references.
In 1933, Lul Krag moved from Oslo to settle in Rosendal in the municipality of Kvinnherad. Since 1927, she had already spent several summers in this beautiful village in Western Norway. In the years that followed, the mountains, fjords, mist and trees of the area became her principal subject matter, alongside Baroniet, Rosendal’s famous 17th-century manor house, with its rose garden and nature park.
Her drawings demonstrate an eye for grand panoramas, while also inviting the viewer to engage with intimate details of foliage, flowers and trees. Krag was faithful to her subject matter. The mountains Malmangernuten, Melderskin and Laurdalstind, and the view towards Snilstveitøy, recur in several of her works. She blends topographical features with her interpretation of the landscape.
East Asian art was an important source of inspiration for Krag. In Chinese landscape depictions, she found both a sensitivity for nature and a dreamlike quality that resonated with her.
By the time Krag settled in Rosendal at the age of 55, she was already an established artist. She had studied in London, Kristiania and Paris, and had several exhibitions behind her. Her desire to step back from the art scene in the capital and to find more solemn working conditions helped to initiate a new direction in her art. Nestled between mountains and fjords, she became closely attuned to nature, the local flora and fauna, and the changing weather and seasons. In Skålagato in Rosendal, Krag lived and worked surrounded by her charcoal drawings, which covered the walls from floor to ceiling.
Inspired by her home, the exhibition at the National Museum invites visitors to an intimate encounter with the nature of Western Norway, as seen through the eyes of Lul Krag.
