We visited the Edvard Munch Museum several times and saw many of Munch's works. The main lesson: works of art need to be seen in the original. No reproduction captures the energy of the brush work or complexity of colors in Munch's paintings, for example. They are known for their notoriety rather than appreciated for their artwork. None of Munch's works are pictured here since they reproduce so poorly. Besides, it was embarrassing to watch tourists stand in front of The Scream to have their picture taken mimicking it.
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The National Gallery in Oslo shows how unfortunate it is that Munch has eclipsed so many other excellent Norwegian artists. Harriet Backer, Kitty Kielland, Christian Krohg, and many others did fascinating works. These two photos of paintings by Harald Sohlberg cannot show adequately what he achieves.
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These paintings by Sohlberg, as well as work by other painters, led Diane to think about how Scandinavian artists are affected by the peculiarity of their northern light and summer hours. Norwegian twilight lasts many hours in the summer with a clarity and indirect light that is far more brief in other countries. So many of the Scandinavian paintings portray the sense of a precise moment captured in time. Only in the far north will the evening hold a pose.
Ken liked this sculpture of Christian Krohg, in part because he liked the beard on the painter. For a brief period, Krohg was Munch's instructor at an art school.
Be sure to also see Diane's favorite artist in Norway.
