Gustav Vigeland
Encyclopedia
Gustav Vigeland was a Norwegian
sculptor
. Gustav Vigeland occupies a special position among Norwegian sculptors, both in the power of his creative imagination and in his productivity. He is most associated with Vigeland Sculpture Park
(Vigelandsanlegget) in Oslo. He was also the designer of the Nobel Peace Prize
medal.
, a former municipality in Mandal. His parents were Elesæus Thorsen (1835–1886), a cabinetmaker and Anne Aanensdatter (1835–1907). His younger brother, Emanuel Vigeland
, became a noted artist. As a youth, he was sent to Oslo
where he learned wood carving
at a local school. However, the sudden death of his father compelled him to move back to Mandal to help his family. Gustav lived for a time with his grandparents on a farm called Mjunebrokka in Vigeland
, an old farm in Valle parish, Lindesnes
municipality in Vest-Agder
county.
He returned to Oslo in 1888, this time determined to become a professional sculptor. Vigeland came to the attention of sculptor Brynjulf Bergslien
, who supported him and gave him practical training. The following year he exhibited his first work, Hagar and Ishmael.
Vigeland spent the years 1891 to 1896 in several voyages abroad, including Copenhagen
, Paris
, Berlin
and Florence
. In the French capital he frequented Auguste Rodin
's workshop, while in Italy
he experimented with ancient and Renaissance
artworks. In these years the themes that would later dominate his inspiration: the death and the relationship between man and woman first appeared. He held his first personal exhibitions in Norway in 1894 and 1896, which received notable critical praise.
in Trondheim
. The contact with Mediaeval art contributed to another frequent theme in Vigeland's art, the dragon
as symbol of sin
but also as a nature force, fighting against man.
Back in Oslo, he obtained from the town an abandoned studio in which to work. In 1905 Norway became independent from Sweden
. Vigeland, considered the most talented Norwegian sculptor, received numerous commissions for statues and busts celebrating renowned compatriots like Henrik Ibsen
and Niels Henrik Abel
.
In 1906 Vigeland proposed a chalk model for a monumental fountain which, according to the initial will of the Oslo municipality, was to decorate Eidsvolls plass
, the square in front of the Parliament of Norway. His work was generally welcomed, but the location created a dispute: the work completion was therefore postponed. In the meantime Vigeland enlarged the original project, adding several sculpture groups and, in 1919, a high granite
column.
. After a long dispute, Vigeland was granted a new building from the city where he could work and live: in exchange, he promised to donate to the city all his subsequent works, including sculptures, drawings, engravings and models.
Vigeland moved to his new studio on Nobels gate in the borough of Frogner
during 1924. His studio was located in the vicinity of Frogner Park
, which he had chosen as the definitive location for his fountain. Over the following twenty years, Vigeland was devoted to the project of an open exhibition of his works, which later turned into what is known as Vigeland Sculpture Park
in Frogner Park. The Vigeland Sculpture Park covers 80 acres (323,748.8 m²) and features 212 bronze and granite sculptures all designed by Gustav Vigeland. The sculptures culminate in the famous Monolith (Monolitten), with its 121 figures struggling to reach the top of the sculpture.
(Vigelandsmuseet).
The site is located immediately south of the Vigeland Sculpture Park. Vigeland's flat on the third floor was preserved as a part of the museum which houses various works by the artist, along with the plaster models of the Vigeland Park sculptures.
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...
sculptor
Sculpture
Sculpture is three-dimensional artwork created by shaping or combining hard materials—typically stone such as marble—or metal, glass, or wood. Softer materials can also be used, such as clay, textiles, plastics, polymers and softer metals...
. Gustav Vigeland occupies a special position among Norwegian sculptors, both in the power of his creative imagination and in his productivity. He is most associated with Vigeland Sculpture Park
Frogner Park
Frogner Park is a public park located in the borough of Frogner in Oslo, Norway. The park contains the world famous Vigeland Sculpture Park designed by Gustav Vigeland....
(Vigelandsanlegget) in Oslo. He was also the designer of the Nobel Peace Prize
Nobel Peace Prize
The Nobel Peace Prize is one of the five Nobel Prizes bequeathed by the Swedish industrialist and inventor Alfred Nobel.-Background:According to Nobel's will, the Peace Prize shall be awarded to the person who...
medal.
Early life
Adolf Gustav Vigeland was born to a family of craftsmen, just outside Halse og HarkmarkHalse og Harkmark
Halse og Harkmark is a former municipality in Vest-Agder county in Norway. It is located in the present-day municipality of Mandal. When it was a municipality, it encompassed the rural areas that surrounded the city of Mandal, including many islands such as Hille, Skjernøy, and Pysen .-Name:Halse...
, a former municipality in Mandal. His parents were Elesæus Thorsen (1835–1886), a cabinetmaker and Anne Aanensdatter (1835–1907). His younger brother, Emanuel Vigeland
Emanuel Vigeland
Emanuel Vigeland was a multitalented Norwegian artist. He is most known for a variety of decorations of Scandinavian churches and for Tomba Emmanuelle, his mausoleum at Slemdal in Oslo.-Background:...
, became a noted artist. As a youth, he was sent to 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...
where he learned wood carving
Wood carving
Wood carving is a form of working wood by means of a cutting tool in one hand or a chisel by two hands or with one hand on a chisel and one hand on a mallet, resulting in a wooden figure or figurine, or in the sculptural ornamentation of a wooden object...
at a local school. However, the sudden death of his father compelled him to move back to Mandal to help his family. Gustav lived for a time with his grandparents on a farm called Mjunebrokka in Vigeland
Vigeland, Norway
Vigeland is an old farm in Valle parish, Lindesnes municipality in Vest-Agder county, Norway. The farm is first mentioned in 1390 , but it is probably much older.-Name:...
, an old farm in Valle parish, Lindesnes
Lindesnes
Lindesnes is a municipality in the county of Vest-Agder, Norway. Lindesnes was created as a new municipality on 1 January 1964 after the merger of the older municipalities of Spangereid, Sør-Audnedal, and Vigmostad....
municipality in Vest-Agder
Vest-Agder
In the 16th century, Dutch merchant vessels began to visit ports in southern Norway to purchase salmon and other goods. Soon thereafter the export of timber began, as oak from southern Norway was exceptionally well suited for shipbuilding...
county.
He returned to Oslo in 1888, this time determined to become a professional sculptor. Vigeland came to the attention of sculptor Brynjulf Bergslien
Brynjulf Bergslien
Brynjulf Larsen Bergslien was a noted Norwegian sculptor.-Background:Bergslien was born in Voss in Hordaland county, Norway. He was a son of Lars Bergeson Bergslien and Kirsten Knutsdotter Gjelle. He was a brother of noted painter and master artist Knud Bergslien...
, who supported him and gave him practical training. The following year he exhibited his first work, Hagar and Ishmael.
Vigeland spent the years 1891 to 1896 in several voyages abroad, including Copenhagen
Copenhagen
Copenhagen is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban population of 1,199,224 and a metropolitan population of 1,930,260 . With the completion of the transnational Øresund Bridge in 2000, Copenhagen has become the centre of the increasingly integrating Øresund Region...
, Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
and Florence
Florence
Florence is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany and of the province of Florence. It is the most populous city in Tuscany, with approximately 370,000 inhabitants, expanding to over 1.5 million in the metropolitan area....
. In the French capital he frequented Auguste Rodin
Auguste Rodin
François-Auguste-René Rodin , known as Auguste Rodin , was a French sculptor. Although Rodin is generally considered the progenitor of modern sculpture, he did not set out to rebel against the past...
's workshop, while in Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
he experimented with ancient and Renaissance
Renaissance
The Renaissance was a cultural movement that spanned roughly the 14th to the 17th century, beginning in Italy in the Late Middle Ages and later spreading to the rest of Europe. The term is also used more loosely to refer to the historical era, but since the changes of the Renaissance were not...
artworks. In these years the themes that would later dominate his inspiration: the death and the relationship between man and woman first appeared. He held his first personal exhibitions in Norway in 1894 and 1896, which received notable critical praise.
Early public works
Until 1902 Vigeland was engaged in the restoration of the Nidaros CathedralNidaros Cathedral
Nidaros Cathedral is a Church of Norway cathedral located in the city of Trondheim in Sør-Trøndelag county, Norway. It was the cathedral of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Nidaros from its establishment in 1152 until its abolition in 1537. Since the Reformation, it has been the cathedral of the...
in Trondheim
Trondheim
Trondheim , historically, Nidaros and Trondhjem, is a city and municipality in Sør-Trøndelag county, Norway. With a population of 173,486, it is the third most populous municipality and city in the country, although the fourth largest metropolitan area. It is the administrative centre of...
. The contact with Mediaeval art contributed to another frequent theme in Vigeland's art, the dragon
Dragon
A dragon is a legendary creature, typically with serpentine or reptilian traits, that feature in the myths of many cultures. There are two distinct cultural traditions of dragons: the European dragon, derived from European folk traditions and ultimately related to Greek and Middle Eastern...
as symbol of sin
Sin
In religion, sin is the violation or deviation of an eternal divine law or standard. The term sin may also refer to the state of having committed such a violation. Christians believe the moral code of conduct is decreed by God In religion, sin (also called peccancy) is the violation or deviation...
but also as a nature force, fighting against man.
Back in Oslo, he obtained from the town an abandoned studio in which to work. In 1905 Norway became independent from Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
. Vigeland, considered the most talented Norwegian sculptor, received numerous commissions for statues and busts celebrating renowned compatriots like Henrik Ibsen
Henrik Ibsen
Henrik Ibsen was a major 19th-century Norwegian playwright, theatre director, and poet. He is often referred to as "the father of prose drama" and is one of the founders of Modernism in the theatre...
and Niels Henrik Abel
Niels Henrik Abel
Niels Henrik Abel was a Norwegian mathematician who proved the impossibility of solving the quintic equation in radicals.-Early life:...
.
In 1906 Vigeland proposed a chalk model for a monumental fountain which, according to the initial will of the Oslo municipality, was to decorate Eidsvolls plass
Eidsvolls plass
Eidsvolls plass is a square and park in Oslo, Norway, located west of the Parliament of Norway Building, south of Karl Johans gate and east of Studenterlunden and the National Theatre...
, the square in front of the Parliament of Norway. His work was generally welcomed, but the location created a dispute: the work completion was therefore postponed. In the meantime Vigeland enlarged the original project, adding several sculpture groups and, in 1919, a high granite
Granite
Granite is a common and widely occurring type of intrusive, felsic, igneous rock. Granite usually has a medium- to coarse-grained texture. Occasionally some individual crystals are larger than the groundmass, in which case the texture is known as porphyritic. A granitic rock with a porphyritic...
column.
Vigeland Sculpture Park
In 1921 the City of Oslo decided to demolish the house where Vigeland lived and build a libraryLibrary
In a traditional sense, a library is a large collection of books, and can refer to the place in which the collection is housed. Today, the term can refer to any collection, including digital sources, resources, and services...
. After a long dispute, Vigeland was granted a new building from the city where he could work and live: in exchange, he promised to donate to the city all his subsequent works, including sculptures, drawings, engravings and models.
Vigeland moved to his new studio on Nobels gate in the borough of Frogner
Frogner
Frogner is a borough of the city of Oslo, Norway. In addition to traditional Frogner, the borough incorporates Bygdøy, Uranienborg and Majorstuen....
during 1924. His studio was located in the vicinity of Frogner Park
Frogner Park
Frogner Park is a public park located in the borough of Frogner in Oslo, Norway. The park contains the world famous Vigeland Sculpture Park designed by Gustav Vigeland....
, which he had chosen as the definitive location for his fountain. Over the following twenty years, Vigeland was devoted to the project of an open exhibition of his works, which later turned into what is known as Vigeland Sculpture Park
Frogner Park
Frogner Park is a public park located in the borough of Frogner in Oslo, Norway. The park contains the world famous Vigeland Sculpture Park designed by Gustav Vigeland....
in Frogner Park. The Vigeland Sculpture Park covers 80 acres (323,748.8 m²) and features 212 bronze and granite sculptures all designed by Gustav Vigeland. The sculptures culminate in the famous Monolith (Monolitten), with its 121 figures struggling to reach the top of the sculpture.
Vigeland Museum
Vigeland lived and worked at his studio on Nobels gate until his death in 1943. His ashes are still preserved there in the belfry of the building. According to the agreement with the City of Oslo, the building became the Vigeland MuseumVigeland Museum
The Vigeland Museum is a museum in Oslo, Norway.Its history began in 1919 when noted sculptor Gustav Vigeland made an offer to Oslo Municipality to donate his works sometime in the future. Vigeland's total body of works consisted not only of sculptures, but also woodcuts, drawings, sketches and...
(Vigelandsmuseet).
The site is located immediately south of the Vigeland Sculpture Park. Vigeland's flat on the third floor was preserved as a part of the museum which houses various works by the artist, along with the plaster models of the Vigeland Park sculptures.
Other sources
- Gjengset, Gunnar Forsteinet liv. En biografisk fortelling om Gustav Vigeland (Direkte forlaget. 2000) ISBN 82-91690-23-5 Norwegian
- Hennum, Gerd Gustav Vigeland i svart og hvitt (Fædrelandsvennen. 1985) ISBN 82-90-58101-7. Norwegian
- Wikborg, Tone Gustav Vigeland - mennesket og kunsten (Oslo: Aschehoug, 1983) ISBN 82-03-11042-8 Norwegian
- Wikborg, Tone Gustav Vigeland - His Art and Sculpture Park (Oslo: Aschehoug, 1985) ISBN 82-03-16150-2.
- Wikborg, Tone Gustav Vigeland. En biografi (Gyldendal. 2001) ISBN 82-05-27590-4. Norwegian