Personal life

Sørensen was born in Fryksände

Torsby

Torsby is a locality and the seat of Torsby Municipality in Värmland County, Sweden with 4,012 inhabitants in 2005.Fortum Ski Tunnel Torsby, the world's longest ski tunnel, is located in Torsby. Sebra Film is located in Torsby. Football manager Sven-Göran Eriksson and footballer Marcus Berg are...

 in Sweden as a son of Severin Sørensen and Helene Høibraaten. He was married to Gudrun Klewe, and is father of physicist Sven Oluf Sørensen.

Painting career

Sørensen studied drawing 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:*...

 in Kristiania

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...

 in 1904 and from 1906 to 1908. He studied with Kristian Zahrtmann

Kristian Zahrtmann

Peder Henrik Kristian Zahrtmann, known as Kristian Zahrtmann, was a Danish painter. He was a part of the Danish artistic generation in the late 19th century, along with Peder Severin Krøyer and Theodor Esbern Philipsen, who broke away from both the strictures of traditional Academicism and the...

 in 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...

 from 1904 to 1905, and became fascinated by the French impressionsists while studying at the art school Académie Colarossi

Académie Colarossi

The Académie Colarossi is an art school founded by the Italian sculptor Filippo Colarossi. First located on the Île de la Cité, it moved in the 1870s to 10 rue de la Grande-Chaumière in the VIe arrondissement of Paris, France....

 in Paris during the autumn of 1905. He studied painting with Henri Matisse

Henri Matisse

Henri Matisse was a French artist, known for his use of colour and his fluid and original draughtsmanship. He was a draughtsman, printmaker, and sculptor, but is known primarily as a painter...

  in Paris from 1908 to 1910. His breakthrough was the painting Svartbækken from 1908. His painting Varietéartist from 1910 caused big headlines, and was bought by the Swedish painter and art collector Prince Eugén, Duke of Närke

Prince Eugén, Duke of Närke

Prince Eugen Napoleon Nicolaus of Sweden and Norway, Duke of Närke was the youngest son of King Oscar II of Sweden and Norway....

. He is represented in the National Gallery with several paintings, as well as in other Scandinavian museums, and has decorated a large wall at the Oslo City Hall

Oslo City Hall

Oslo City Hall houses the city council, city administration, and art studios and galleries. The construction started in 1931, but was paused by the outbreak of World War II, before the official inauguration in 1950. Its characteristic architecture, artworks and the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony, held...

.

He illustrated books by Jørgen Moe

Jørgen Moe

right|thumb|Norske Folkeeventyr Asbjørnsen and Moe Jørgen Engebretsen Moe was a Norwegian bishop and author...

, Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson

Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson

Bjørnstjerne Martinius Bjørnson was a Norwegian writer and the 1903 Nobel Prize in Literature laureate. Bjørnson is considered as one of The Four Greats Norwegian writers; the others being Henrik Ibsen, Jonas Lie, and Alexander Kielland...

, Ragnhild Jølsen

Ragnhild Jølsen

Ragnhild Theodora Jølsen was a Norwegian author. Norwegian oral traditions were a recurring theme in her works. Her writings often focused on the conflict between the old rural society and modern industrial society. -Biography:...

 and Aasmund Olavsson Vinje

Aasmund Olavsson Vinje

Aasmund Olavsson Vinje was a famous Norwegian poet and journalist who is remembered for poetry, travel writing, and his pioneering use of Landsmål .-Background:...

, and painted portraits of the writers Ingeborg Refling Hagen

Ingeborg Refling Hagen

Ingeborg Refling Hagen was a Norwegian author and teacher.- Early life :Ingeborg Refling Hagen was born in Hedmark, Norway, in the parish Tangen besides Mjøsa, as the fourth child of the local miller...

 (1932) and Sigurd Christiansen

Sigurd Christiansen

Sigurd Christiansen was a Norwegian novelist and playwright. He made his literary debut with the novel Seierherrene in 1915....

 (1936). His painting Jødene (Israels folk) is from 1943. A painting by Sørensen was used on Norwegian Norwegian 10 kroner notes from 1954 to 1973. He has painted altarpiece

Altarpiece

An altarpiece is a picture or relief representing a religious subject and suspended in a frame behind the altar of a church. The altarpiece is often made up of two or more separate panels created using a technique known as panel painting. It is then called a diptych, triptych or polyptych for two,...

s to the Linköping Cathedral

Linköping Cathedral

The Linköping Cathedral is a church in the Swedish city of Linköping. The cathedral is the seat for the bishop in the Church of Sweden Diocese of Linköping. It is situated opposite Linköping Castle.-History:...

 and the Hamar Cathedral

Hamar cathedral

For the current cathedral in Hamar, see Hamar cathedral.Hamar Cathedral was the see of the Ancient Diocese of Hamar. The diocese at Hamar had included much of the counties of Hedmark, Oppland, and Buskerud....

.

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...

 he was held at the Grini concentration camp for one week, January-February 1945.

Legacy

In 1968 a memorial of Sørensen, made by sculptor Ragnhild Butenschøn

Ragnhild Butenschøn

Ragnhild Butenschøn, née Jakhelln was a Norwegian sculptor.-Personal life:She was born in Kristiania as a daughter of major Alf Jakhelln and Agnes Prebensen . In 1936 she married publisher Barthold A. Butenschøn. She was a daughter-in-law of Barthold A...

, was raised in Lillestrøm

Lillestrøm

' is a city in the municipality of Skedsmo, Akershus, Norway. The municipal administration is located in Lillestrøm.Facilities in Lillestrøm include hotels, Norway trade fairs, a brand new cinema, a mall, Lillestrøm torv, restaurants, a high speed commuter train that reaches both Oslo and...

. Galleries with works by Sørensen were later raised at two of his favourite painting locations, Holmsbu

Holmsbu

Holmsbu is a village in the municipality of Hurum, Norway, located by the Drammensfjord. Its population is 351.The seaport village received city rights in 1847. It lost its rights January 1, 1964....

 Billedgalleri in 1973, and Vinje

Vinje

Vinje is a municipality in Telemark county, Norway. It is part of the traditional region of Vest-Telemark. The administrative center of the municipality is the village of Åmot.-Name:...

Biletgalleri in Smørklepp in 1991.