Nils Aas
Encyclopedia
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...
. His art is featured in the public space in many parts of Norway, and he is represented with important works in the National Museum of Art, Architecture and Design and the Trondheim Kunstmuseum.
Biography
Nils Sigurd Aas was born in InderøyInderøy
Inderøy is a municipality in Nord-Trøndelag county, Norway. It is part of the Innherad region. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Straumen. Other villages include Gangstadhaugen, Hylla, Kjerknesvågen, Røra, Sakshaug, Sandvollan, Småland, Utøy, and Vangshylla.The...
, in Nord-Trøndelag
Nord-Trøndelag
is a county constituting the northern part of Trøndelag in Norway. As of 2010, the county had 131,555 inhabitants, making it the country's fourth-least populated county. The largest municipalities are Stjørdal, Steinkjer—the county seat, Levanger, Namsos and Verdal, all with between 21,000 and...
County, Norway. He grew up in a family of prominent cabinet makers. He was educated at Norwegian National Academy of Fine Arts
Norwegian National Academy of Fine Arts
The Norwegian National Academy of Fine Arts is a Norwegian university offering studies in the areas of specialization painting, photography / video / film, digital art, sound art, sculpture, installation, performance art, and art theory.-History:...
(1954-58). He subsequently worked as assistant to Norwegian abstract sculptor Arnold Haukeland (1920-1983). While working with Haukeland, Aas was introduced to an abstract idiom. He made his debut as a sculptor at the Autumn Exhibition in 1964.
Important works by Nils Aas include statues of Grete Waitz
Grete Waitz
Grete Waitz was a Norwegian marathon runner and former world record holder. Waitz won nine New York City Marathons between 1978 and 1988, more than any other runner in history...
, 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 Charles Chaplin and a large number of portrait busts - including those of Einar Gerhardsen
Einar Gerhardsen
was a Norwegian politician from the Labour Party of Norway. He was Prime Minister for three periods, 1945–1951, 1955–1963 and 1963–1965. With 17 years in office, he is the longest serving Prime Minister in Norway since the introduction of parliamentarism...
, Johan Borgen
Johan Borgen
Johan Collett Müller Borgen was a Norwegian author, journalist and critic. He was married to Annemarta Borgen. Under the pseudonym of Mumle Gåsegg he wrote shorter articles in the newspaper Dagbladet, particularly during World War II...
, Arthur Rubinstein
Arthur Rubinstein
Arthur Rubinstein KBE was a Polish-American pianist. He received international acclaim for his performances of the music of a variety of composers...
, Håkon Bleken
Håkon Bleken
Håkon Ingvald Bleken is a Norwegian painter and graphic artist.- Education and work as an artist :Bleken started his art education at Trondheim art school, where he studied under Karsten Keiseraas and Oddvar Alstad from 1948 to 1949. He then studied at the Norwegian National Academy of Fine Arts...
, Harald Sæverud
Harald Sæverud
Harald Sigurd Johan Sæverud was a Norwegian composer. He is most known for his music to Henrik Ibsen's Peer Gynt, Rondo Amoroso, and the Ballad of Revolt . Sæverud wrote nine symphonies, and a large number of pieces for solo piano...
, Jakob Weidemann
Jakob Weidemann
Jakob Weidemann was a Norwegian artist. Jakob Weidemann is regarded as one of Norway’s more important artists of post-war Modernism.-Biography:...
and Rolf Jacobsen
Rolf Jacobsen
Rolf Jacobsen could be said to be the first modernist writer in Norway. Jacobsen's career as a writer spanned more than fifty years. He is one of Scandinavia’s most distinguished poets, who launched poetic modernism in Norway with his first book, Jord og jern in 1933. Jacobsen's work has been...
. Nils Aas also designed a number of medals and coins, most notably the current 10 - and 20-crown coin.
Awards and honors
- 1972 Oslo City Culture Prize
- 1984 Statens æreslønn
- 1990 Anders Jahres kulturpris
- 1990 Knight of the Order of St. Olav
- 1996 Inderøy Municipality Culture Prize
- 2001 Per Palle Storms award
Nils Aas Kunstverksted
Selected works
- Haakon VIIHaakon VII of NorwayHaakon VII , known as Prince Carl of Denmark until 1905, was the first king of Norway after the 1905 dissolution of the personal union with Sweden. He was a member of the House of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg...
- 7. juni-plassen7. juni-plassen7. juni-plassen is a square in Oslo, Norway.It is located at Ruseløkka in Vika, southeast of Slottsparken and the Royal Palace and west of the National Theatre....
, Oslo - Hjalmar AndersenHjalmar AndersenHjalmar "Hjallis" Johan Andersen is a former speed skater from Norway who won three gold medals at the 1952 Winter Olympic Games of Oslo, Norway. He was the only triple gold medalist at the 1952 Winter Olympics, and as such, became the most successful athlete there.-Short biography:Hjalmar...
- Bislett Stadium, Oslo - Henrik IbsenHenrik IbsenHenrik 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...
- Den Nationale Scene, Bergen - Charlie ChaplinCharlie ChaplinSir Charles Spencer "Charlie" Chaplin, KBE was an English comic actor, film director and composer best known for his work during the silent film era. He became the most famous film star in the world before the end of World War I...
- Colosseum Cinema, Oslo - Anne StineAnne Stine IngstadDr. Anne Stine Ingstad was a Norwegian archaeologist who, along with her husband Dr. Helge Ingstad, discovered the remains of a Viking settlement at L'Anse aux Meadows in the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador in 1960.-Biography:Anne Stine Moe was born and raised in Lillehammer, in...
and Helge IngstadHelge IngstadHelge Marcus Ingstad was a Norwegian explorer. After mapping some Norse settlements, Ingstad and his wife Anne Stine, an archaeologist, in 1960 found remnants of a Viking settlement in L'Anse aux Meadows in the Province of Newfoundland in Canada...
- Vikingskipshuset, Oslo - Marilyn MonroeMarilyn MonroeMarilyn Monroe was an American actress, singer, model and showgirl who became a major sex symbol, starring in a number of commercially successful motion pictures during the 1950s....
- HaugesundHaugesundis a town and municipality in the county of Rogaland, Norway.-Location:Haugesund was separated from Torvastad as a town and municipality of its own in 1855. The rural municipality of Skåre was merged with Haugesund on January 1, 1958. Haugesund is a small municipality, only 73 km²... - P.C. Reinsnes - SortlandSortlandis a town and municipality in Nordland county, Norway. It is part of the Vesterålen traditional region. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Sortland. In 1997, the municipality decided to declare township for Sortland...