Lanterna Rally

Author: Trine Otte Bak Nielsen

Publisher: Mercatorfonds

Published: 2015

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9780300220032

For the first time a major dual exhibition will be devoted to two giants in the history of Norwegian art, Edvard Munch and Gustav Vigeland. Their work, development and ambitions have many interesting traits in common, which will provide the public with an opportunity to discover new connections between the two artists.00Edvard Munch (1863-1944) and Gustav Vigeland (1869-1943) worked during the same period. One primarily as a painter and printmaker, the other as a sculptor. With only a six-year difference in age, they were affiliated with the same circles and influenced by the same contemporary art movements. And for a period they both lived and worked - even in adjoining rooms - in Berlin. The connection between Munch and Vigeland has often been mentioned, yet has never been the subject of in-depth investigations. Many are of the opinion that the two were rivals. This book wishes to clarify the connections between them by presenting their artistic careers side by side, from the time they began studying at The Royal College of Design in Kristiania, to the time they became well-established artists at Ekely and Frogner respectively. A red thread running through the book is their common development with regard to choice of motifs. For example when they followed the contemporary trends and depicted angst-filled characters, ambiguous love motifs or ominous Judgement Day motifs. The works of a young and not yet famous Vigeland are highlighted here, from a time when his sculptures had a more dramatic content and were smaller in format than the ones we know from the Vigeland Park. An interesting similarity from a later period can be found in the artists' works representing monumental renderings of entangled piles of human bodies, such as Munch's painting The Human Mountain and Vigeland's sculpture The Monolith. Exhibition: Munch Museet, Oslo, Norway (03.10.2015-17.01.2016).