Nødhavn Ved Norskekysten
Encyclopedia
Nødhavn Ved Norskekysten (English translation
: Port of Refuge on the Norwegian Coast or Norwegian Harbor of Refuge) is a painting by Norwegian
romanticist
painter Hans Gude
completed in 1873.
in 1873 where it won a gold medal. It was later displayed at an international exhibition of art at the Academy of Art in Berlin
in 1896 while Gude was a professor at the Academy, and yet later still it was shown in Dresden
in 1904, the year after Gude's death.
rendering of a storm hitting a Norwegian harbor, with a brig
stranded in the distant breakers. The painting is divided into a foreground, where women and children watch the rescue effort; a middle ground, where various moored ships bob in the strong waves; and a background, where wavelike rocks enclose the refuge point and bring the eye down to the stranded brig. The colors used are predominantly the blue
-grey
of the sea and the beige
of the reflections on the sea which serve to unify the piece. Various elements of the scene including the waterfront buildings, the groups of figures, and the departing rowboat, would be reused by Gude in later works.
. In 1920 the painting was auctioned off due in part to changing tastes in art and the painting's large size (4.78 m² (51.5 sq ft)) which made it difficult to store. In 1932 the painting was auctioned off again in Oslo
where it was purchased by its current owner.
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
: Port of Refuge on the Norwegian Coast or Norwegian Harbor of Refuge) is a painting by 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...
romanticist
Norwegian romantic nationalism
Norwegian romantic nationalism was a movement in Norway between 1840 and 1867 in art, literature, and popular culture that emphasized the aesthetics of Norwegian nature and the uniqueness of the Norwegian national identity...
painter Hans Gude
Hans Gude
Hans Fredrik Gude was a Norwegian romanticist painter and is considered along with Johan Christian Dahl to be one of Norway's foremost landscape painters...
completed in 1873.
Exhibition history
The painting was first shown at the World Exhibition in ViennaVienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
in 1873 where it won a gold medal. It was later displayed at an international exhibition of art at the Academy of Art in Berlin
Akademie der Künste
The Akademie der Künste, Berlin is an arts institution in Berlin, Germany. It was founded in 1696 by Elector Frederick III of Brandenburg as the Prussian Academy of Arts, an academic institution where members could meet and discuss and share ideas...
in 1896 while Gude was a professor at the Academy, and yet later still it was shown in Dresden
Dresden
Dresden is the capital city of the Free State of Saxony in Germany. It is situated in a valley on the River Elbe, near the Czech border. The Dresden conurbation is part of the Saxon Triangle metropolitan area....
in 1904, the year after Gude's death.
Scene and style
The painting shows a realisticRealism (arts)
Realism in the visual arts and literature refers to the general attempt to depict subjects "in accordance with secular, empirical rules", as they are considered to exist in third person objective reality, without embellishment or interpretation...
rendering of a storm hitting a Norwegian harbor, with a brig
Brig
A brig is a sailing vessel with two square-rigged masts. During the Age of Sail, brigs were seen as fast and manoeuvrable and were used as both naval warships and merchant vessels. They were especially popular in the 18th and early 19th centuries...
stranded in the distant breakers. The painting is divided into a foreground, where women and children watch the rescue effort; a middle ground, where various moored ships bob in the strong waves; and a background, where wavelike rocks enclose the refuge point and bring the eye down to the stranded brig. The colors used are predominantly the blue
Blue
Blue is a colour, the perception of which is evoked by light having a spectrum dominated by energy with a wavelength of roughly 440–490 nm. It is considered one of the additive primary colours. On the HSV Colour Wheel, the complement of blue is yellow; that is, a colour corresponding to an equal...
-grey
Grey
Grey or gray is an achromatic or neutral color.Complementary colors are defined to mix to grey, either additively or subtractively, and many color models place complements opposite each other in a color wheel. To produce grey in RGB displays, the R, G, and B primary light sources are combined in...
of the sea and the beige
Beige
Beige may be described as an off tan color or an extremely pale brown color.The term originates from beige cloth, a cotton fabric left undyed in its natural color...
of the reflections on the sea which serve to unify the piece. Various elements of the scene including the waterfront buildings, the groups of figures, and the departing rowboat, would be reused by Gude in later works.
Ownership
In 1875 the painting was purchased by the Bremen Art Society, although Gude incorrectly identifies them as the Stadtgalerie Bremen in his notes about the sale. In 1907 the painting was transferred to the Kunsthalle BremenKunsthalle Bremen
The Kunsthalle Bremen is an art museum in the Hanseatic City Bremen, Germany.The Kunsthalle was built in 1849 and enlarged in 1902 by architect Eduard Gildemeister....
. In 1920 the painting was auctioned off due in part to changing tastes in art and the painting's large size (4.78 m² (51.5 sq ft)) which made it difficult to store. In 1932 the painting was auctioned off again 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...
where it was purchased by its current owner.