Frida Hansen: A leading star in European textile art
Frida Hansen was one of the first Norwegian female artists to receive wide international attention. With strong commitment and courage, she revived and further developed the Norwegian weaving tradition towards the end of the 19th century.
Text by Curator Anne Sommerin Simonnæs
Frida Hansen was an important representative of art nouveau and symbolism. She made her major breakthrough during the Paris Exposition of 1900, where she received a gold medal for the tapestry Melkeveien (Milky Way) (1898). By renewing traditional weaving techniques she created her own distinctive textile style, adapted to contemporary art. She was a pioneer at a time when the women's rights movement in Europe was gaining momentum.
Provided a livelihood for many women
In addition to being an independent artist, she taught weaving and made sure that more women learned a trade and earned a livelihood. It was important for her to share her knowledge with others. In Tullinløkka in Oslo in 1892, she established a workshop where extensive production of marketable textiles was carried out by her assistants.
In 1893 she wove a large-scale tapestry entitled Løvetand (Dandelion). It was a commissioned work from the Norwegian Association for Women's Rights for the Chicago World's Fair that year. The symbolic motif depicts a woman in the middle surrounded by women bearing dandelions in bud, bloom and seed. The tapestry became an important work of art for the early women's movement and an expression of Norwegian women's struggle against oppression.