Oscar Arnold Wergeland 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...

 painter. He is best known for his historical painting of the Constituent Assembly at Eidsvoll

Riksforsamlingen

Norwegian Constituent Assembly is the name given to the 1814 Constitutional Assembly at Eidsvoll in Norway, that voted the Norwegian Constitution and formalised the dissolution of the union with Denmark...

 (Riksforsamlingen på Eidsvoll 1814). Two of his paintings are located in 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:...

.

Family

His parents were Sverre Nicolai Wergeland (1817–96) and Anne Margrethe Larsen (1817–89). His sister was Agnes Mathilde Wergeland

Agnes Mathilde Wergeland

Agnes Mathilde Wergeland was a Norwegian-American historian, poet and educator. Agnes Mathilde Wergeland was the first Norwegian woman ever to earn a doctoral degree.-Background:...

 (1857–1914), who emigrated to the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 and became known as an author. He was the great-nephew of Nicolai Wergeland

Nicolai Wergeland

Nicolai Wergeland was a Norwegian priest, writer and politician, and a member of the Norwegian Constituent Assembly at Eidsvoll that wrote the Constitution of Norway on 17 May 1814. He was elected as one of two delegates from Christiansand to the Eidsvoll Assembly in 1814...

; Norwegian priest, writer and politician, and a member of the Norwegian Constituent Assembly at Eidsvoll. Hence Henrik Wergeland

Henrik Wergeland

Henrik Arnold Thaulow Wergeland was a Norwegian writer, most celebrated for his poetry but also a prolific playwright, polemicist, historian, and linguist...

, Camilla Collett

Camilla Collett

Jacobine Camilla Collett was a Norwegian writer, often referred to as the first Norwegian feminist. She was also the younger sister of Norwegian poet Henrik Wergeland, and is recognized as being one of the first contributors to realism in Norwegian literature...

 and Joseph Frantz Oscar Wergeland

Joseph Frantz Oscar Wergeland

Joseph Frantz Oscar Wergeland was a Norwegian military officer, cartographer and skiing pioneer.-Personal life:Wergeland was born in Christianssand and grew up at Eidsvold. He was the son of priest and politician Nicolai Wergeland, and a brother of the poet Henrik Wergeland and feminist writer...

 were the cousins of his father.

Biography

Wergeland was born in Oslo, Norway. Several of his siblings died early, and his father went to America around 1860. He was a student of David Arnesen (1818-1895) during 1859 and of 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:*...

 1865-1867. He also frequented the art school operated by Johan Fredrik Eckersberg (1822- 1870) during the period 1865-69. He was a student at the 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...

 art academy in 1869. He studied history painting

History painting

History painting is a genre in painting defined by subject matter rather than an artistic style, depicting a moment in a narrative story, rather than a static subject such as a portrait...

 in Munich

Munich

Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...

 1874 – 1876, and lived in Munich until 1889. From 1889 he was teaching 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...

.

The painting Riksforsamlingen på Eidsvoll 1814 was probably begun in 1882. Wergeland copied well over 60 portrait to get the result as credible as possible. The picture includes 55 portraits of the constitutional fathers. (Not all of the 112 persons are viewable) It is today located in the Norwegian Parliament, behind the speaker's platform and the presidential podium. The painting was used as the main reverse motif of Norwegian 100 kroner notes from 1962 to 1977. Additionally the painting appeared on several Norwegian postage statmps issued during 1918 for the 100th anniversary of the Constituent Assembly at Eidsvoll.

Norable works

• Inga kongsmor betror Håkon Håkonsson til birkebeinerne, (1869)
• Nordmennene lander på Island, (1877)
• Frühschoppen, antakelig (1883)
• Gudstjeneste i en tysk landsbykirke, antakelig, (1883)
• Murere i arbeid, utvendig frise, antakelig, (1892)