Carl Frithjof Tidemand-Johannessen (11 September 1916 – 9 October 1958) was a Norwegian

Norway

Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...

  artist

Artist

An artist is a person engaged in one or more of any of a broad spectrum of activities related to creating art, practicing the arts and/or demonstrating an art. The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse is a practitioner in the visual arts only...

, designer

Designer

A designer is a person who designs. More formally, a designer is an agent that "specifies the structural properties of a design object". In practice, anyone who creates tangible or intangible objects, such as consumer products, processes, laws, games and graphics, is referred to as a...

, illustrator

Illustrator

An Illustrator is a narrative artist who specializes in enhancing writing by providing a visual representation that corresponds to the content of the associated text...

, writer

Writer

A writer is a person who produces literature, such as novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, poetry, or other literary art. Skilled writers are able to use language to portray ideas and images....

, author

Author

An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...

 and craftsman

Craftsman

Craftsman may refer to:* Craftsman , a brand of tools* Master craftsman, an artisan who practices a handicraft or trade* a style of architecture and furniture arising from the British Arts and crafts style...

. He is best known today for his woodcut

Woodcut

Woodcut—occasionally known as xylography—is a relief printing artistic technique in printmaking in which an image is carved into the surface of a block of wood, with the printing parts remaining level with the surface while the non-printing parts are removed, typically with gouges...

 prints and for the decorative works on the Torshov

Torshov

Torshov is an area in the borough Sagene in Oslo, Norway.Vogts gate serves as the neighborhood's main street. In the street there are trams between the city centre and Kjelsås. Along Vogts gate are several coffee shops, restaurants and cafes....

 Church in Oslo

Oslo

Oslo is a municipality, as well as the capital and most populous city in Norway. As a municipality , it was established on 1 January 1838. Founded around 1048 by King Harald III of Norway, the city was largely destroyed by fire in 1624. The city was moved under the reign of Denmark–Norway's King...

.

Tidemand-Johannessen received his artistic education at the Norwegian National Academy of Craft and Art Industry

Norwegian National Academy of Craft and Art Industry

The Norwegian National Academy of Craft and Art Industry was established in 1818.In 1996 the National Academy of Craft and Art Industry became part of Oslo National Academy of the Arts .-Noted alumni:-External links:*...

 1935–37 under Per Krohg

Per Krohg

Per Lasson Krohg was a Norwegian artist. Per Krohg is most frequently associated with the mural he created for the United Nations Security Council Chamber, located in the United Nations building in New York City.-Biography:...

, and made his debut at Høstutstillingen

Høstutstillingen

Høstutstillingen or Statens kunstutstilling is an annual art exhibition in Oslo, Norway. The exhibition is Norway's largest marking of contemporary art and takes place each autumn. It is arranged by Norske Billedkunstnere . The exhibition is set up on the basis of free submission...

 in Oslo in 1936. Tidemand-Johannessen then began studies at the Berlin University of the Arts, but was expelled by the Nazi management of the academy after three weeks for allegedly being a "degenerate artist

Degenerate art

Degenerate art is the English translation of the German entartete Kunst, a term adopted by the Nazi regime in Germany to describe virtually all modern art. Such art was banned on the grounds that it was un-German or Jewish Bolshevist in nature, and those identified as degenerate artists were...

". After that, he participated in an illegal, underground academy in Berlin for about a year, and made study trips to Austria

Austria

Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...

 and Hungary

Hungary

Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...

.

During World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

, Tidemand-Johannessen participated in the defense of Norway in 1940

Operation Weserübung

Operation Weserübung was the code name for Germany's assault on Denmark and Norway during the Second World War and the opening operation of the Norwegian Campaign...

, and then in the Norwegian resistance to the German occupation. He was arrested in February 1941 by the Nazi authorities. He a year and a half being moved between the prisons Åkebergveien and Møllergaten 19 between February 1941 and July 1942. Then, until 9 July 1943 he was imprisoned in Grini concentration camp.

Tidemand-Johannessen was editor-in-chief of the magazine Avant-garden, which was published by the Young Communist League of Norway

Young Communist League of Norway

Young Communist League of Norway was until April 2006 the youth league of Norges Kommunistiske Parti . April 1st 2006 NKP declared that NKU was no longer its youth organization, and that all youths interested in joining the movement should contact the party directly...

 until the liberation from German occupation in 1945. He continued in this position when the magazine became legal after the war. In the late 1940s he also served as a culture journalist/writer for Friheten

Friheten

Friheten is a biweekly newspaper, published by the Norwegian Communist Party .It was founded illegally in 1941, during the German occupation of Norway due to World War II. After the liberation in 1945, it emerged as the official party newspaper....

, the party's daily newspaper. After the war Tidemand-Johannessen taught for a while at the National Academy of Craft and Art Industry, and played a central role in the idealist-communist circles at the academy up until the Furubotn Purge

Peder Furubotn

Peder Furubotn was a Norwegian cabinetmaker, politician for the Communist Party and resistance member during World War II.-Early and personal life:...

 within the Communist Party of Norway in 1949.

In his time Tidemand-Johannessen became well known, and to some degree controversial, because of his radical ideas about art. In an interview in the Oslo newspaper Verdens Gang

Verdens Gang

Verdens Gang , generally known under the abbreviation VG, is a Norwegian tabloid newspaper...

in 1953, he argued for erasing the line separating art from the crafts. Tidemand-Johannessen himself printed large, unnumbered editions of woodcuts on a manual book printing press, made possible by innovative techniques involving heat and pressure applied to the specially prepared wood panels. As a result, he could produce graphic art of high technical quality at prices most people could afford.

Tidemand-Johannessen married Blanche Aanesen and had two children, of whom the son Kjeld Tidemand-Johannessen also became an artist.

Graphic Art

Tidemand-Johannessen produced most of his graphic art during the years 1946–1958. Much of this work is in the medium of woodcut prints. He is considered to be part of the Norwegian color-woodcut school, along with others like Paul René Gauguin. Tidemand-Johannessen was known for his experimental approach to both process and expression, and his own visual vocabulary evolved to a large extent during his relatively few years as a practicing print-maker.

While his early work has been described as lyrical, his later work is far more stylized and formal. The woodcut "To kvinner" ("Two Women") from 1954 is an example of his later work. It is part of Storebrand

Storebrand

Storebrand is a financial services company in Norway. By volume, the company's main activities are related to life insurance and pension savings. However, the company also has major divisions working on investments, banking and, since 2006, P&C insurance products...

's art collection.

The series Norway in 12 Original Color Woodcuts was, in the Norwegian version, published in a large edition by Yngvil Forlag in the fall of 1953 and was presented as mass-produced book illustrations, with printed signatures. The series deals with subjects drawn from the country’s National Romanticist movement of the nineteenth century, by way of images from different and contrasting regions of Norway, in a rejuvenated design idiom and with specific themes associated with each month of the year. The series was also published in an English version, distributed by Johan Grundt Tanum Bokhandel.

Exhibitions

Before the war, Tidemand-Johannessen participated in Høstutstillingen in Oslo in 1936, 1937 and 1939. From 1946 he had several solo exhibitions, and was represented in many group shows – in Norway, Europe and Brazil. After his death in 1958 there was a memorial exhibition of his work in Galleri Per in Oslo, where he had shown at several occasions since 1947.

In more recent years, Tidemand-Johannessen has been represented in two group retrospectives: Den norske tresnittskolen (The Norwegian Woodcut School) at the National Gallery of Norway

National Gallery of Norway

The National Gallery of Norway is a gallery in Oslo, Norway. Since 2003 it is administratively a part of the National Museum of Art, Architecture and Design.-History:...

 in Oslo from August 23 – October 26, 1997, and Europeisk fargegrafikk fra Ateneums samlinger (European Color Prints from the Ateneum’s Collection), Ateneum

Ateneum

The Ateneum is a major museum in Finland. It is located in the centre of Helsinki at the Rautatientori square opposite Helsinki Central Railway Station. It has the biggest collections of classical art in Finland. Previously the Ateneum building also housed the Finnish Academy of Fine Arts and...

, Helsinki, from October 1, 2005 – March 26, 2006.

Collections

Tidemand-Johannessen is represented in the collections of the National Gallery of Norway, with eight prints, as well as in several other Norwegian galleries, both public and private. Outside of Norway, he is represented in the Statens Museum for Kunst

Statens Museum for Kunst

Statens Museum for Kunst is the Danish national gallery located in Copenhagen....

, København; Nationalmuseum, Stockholm; Ateneum

Ateneum

The Ateneum is a major museum in Finland. It is located in the centre of Helsinki at the Rautatientori square opposite Helsinki Central Railway Station. It has the biggest collections of classical art in Finland. Previously the Ateneum building also housed the Finnish Academy of Fine Arts and...

, Helsinki; Rijksmuseum

Rijksmuseum

The Rijksmuseum Amsterdam or simply Rijksmuseum is a Dutch national museum in Amsterdam, located on the Museumplein. The museum is dedicated to arts, crafts, and history. It has a large collection of paintings from the Dutch Golden Age and a substantial collection of Asian art...

, Amsterdam; Victoria and Albert Museum

Victoria and Albert Museum

The Victoria and Albert Museum , set in the Brompton district of The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, London, England, is the world's largest museum of decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 4.5 million objects...

, London; Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum

Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum

The Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum is a museum and art gallery in Glasgow, Scotland. The building houses one of Europe's great civic art collections...

, Glasgow; Metropolitan Museum

Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Metropolitan Museum of Art is a renowned art museum in New York City. Its permanent collection contains more than two million works, divided into nineteen curatorial departments. The main building, located on the eastern edge of Central Park along Manhattan's Museum Mile, is one of the...

, New York.

Torshov Church

Tidemand-Johannessen collaborated with the architect Ulf Nyquist and designed the decorative elements for Torshov

Torshov

Torshov is an area in the borough Sagene in Oslo, Norway.Vogts gate serves as the neighborhood's main street. In the street there are trams between the city centre and Kjelsås. Along Vogts gate are several coffee shops, restaurants and cafes....

 Church in Oslo, belonging to the national Church of Norway

Church of Norway

The Church of Norway is the state church of Norway, established after the Lutheran reformation in Denmark-Norway in 1536-1537 broke the ties to the Holy See. The church confesses the Lutheran Christian faith...

. The church was inaugurated on Whitsunday in 1958, and is considered to be the first modern church building of its kind in Norway. These decorative elements mainly consist of stained-glass windows, glass mosaics and decorative iron-work. At his death, Tidemand-Johannessen had completed three of the twelve stained-glass windows. The remainder were completed by Jardar Lunde. The decorative iron-work was executed by the master smith Fred Becker after Tidemand-Johannessen’s designs.

Design

Tidemand-Johannessen built, prepared and carved the original wood panels for printing bookbinding designs for a number of books for several publishing houses in Oslo.

He explored other techniques as well, like embedding molten metal in wood objects. In the fall of 1956 Tidemand-Johannessen exhibited a group of work in intarsia

Intarsia

Intarsia is a form of wood inlaying that is similar to marquetry. The term is also used for a similar technique used with small, highly polished stones set in a marble matrix .- History :...

 at Norway Design in Oslo. These were produced in collaboration with Asta Musedalslien at Norsk Intarsia AS in Tyristrand

Tyristrand

Tyristrand is a former municipality in Buskerud county, Norway.-Background:Tyristrand was created by a split from Hole on 1 July 1916. On 1 January 1964 Tyristrand was merged with the municipalities Hole, Hønefoss, Norderhov and Ådal to form the new municipality of Ringerike. Before the merger...

, after designs by Tidemand-Johannessen. This exhibition received a favorable review from Bonytt, an established magazine of arts and interior design.

In the 1950s, Tidemand-Johannessen designed a table-service for Stavangerflint

Stavangerflint

Stavangerflint AS was an earthenware factory in Stavanger, Norway, that was in operation from 1949 until 1979.-Company history:Stavangerflint AS started production of pottery tableware for households and for the professional market in Stavanger, Norway in 1949 under the name of Stavanger...

, produced in a limited commemorative edition for Norges Kooperative Landsforening

Coop NKL

Coop NKL BA is a Norwegian cooperative retailing company. Coop NKL is owned by 177 local cooperative associations in Norway and has more than one million members and who actually operate that stores. The company has its headquarters in Oslo...

.

Writings

In the first years after the war, Tidemand-Johannessen wrote a short-story collection and two novels, published by Gyldendal Norsk Forlag

Gyldendal Norsk Forlag

Gyldendal Norsk Forlag, commonly referred to as Gyldendal, is one of the largest Norwegian publishing houses .-Gyldendal Norsk Forlag AS:Gyldendal Norsk Forlag AS was founded in 1925...

: Vi syntes ikke det hastet (We didn’t think it urgent) 1945, Prolog over en avdød kjærlighet. Noveller (Prologue to a past love affair. Stories) 1946 and Utenfor slentrer folk forbi (Outside people are passing by) 1948. He wrote the article "Brakkebyen bygges" ("The building of the barracks-town") for the second volume of Griniboken (The Grini Book - a collection of articles by former camp-prisoners), published by Gyldendal in 1947.

Literature

• Barlaup, Asbjørn: "Trykkpressa like følsom som et klaver", interview with Tidemand-Johannesssen in the Oslo-based newspaper Verdens Gang, 12 December 1953.
• Dagbladet: "Frithjof Tidemand-Johannessen død", obituary in the Oslo-based newspaper Dagbladet, 10 October 1958.
• Egeland, Erik: Øistein Thurman - Trekkfuglen i norsk modernisme, Labyrinth Press 1989, pp. 18–21.
• Flor, Harald: "Linjer i nyere norsk grafikk", in Dag Fyri (ed.): Norske grafikere i dag, Tanum-Norli forlag 1979, pp. 7–32.
• Helliesen, Sidsel: "Fargetresnittskolen", in Norsk grafikk gjennom 100 år, Aschehoug forlag 2000, pp. 169–182.
• Lange, August and Johan Schreiner (ed.): Griniboken bind II, Gyldendal Norsk Forlag 1947, pp. 304–307.
• Nasjonalgalleriet: Norsk kunstnerleksikon, Universitetsforlaget 1986, pp. 261–262.
• Refsum, Tor: "Frithjof Tidemand-Johannessens intarsiaarbeider", in Bonytt 1958, vol. 18, no. 3, pp. 62–63.
• Rude, Rolf: "Fargetresnitt i Galleri Per", article in the Oslo-based newspaper Verdens Gang, 6 May 1947.
• Rude, Rolf: "Fargetresnitt", in Kunsten idag 1947–48, vol. 1, no. 3, pp. 20–29.
• Stenstadvold, Håkon: "Frithjof Tidemand-Johannessen", obituary in the Oslo-based newspaper Aftenposten, 10 October 1958.
• Tidemand-Johannessen, Øistein: Ascendens familien Tidemand-Johannessen, Cammermeyers boghandel 1945, p. 42.
• Verdens Gang: "Frithjof Tidemand-Johannessen er død", obituary in the Oslo-based newspaper Verdens Gang, 10 October 1958.
• Østby, Leif: Ung norsk malerkunst, Mittet & Co forlag 1949, p. 265.