The Nordic Peasant Vision: Codifications of Nationalism in Norwegian Art in the Nineteenth Century
In a period of unrest in Norway in the nineteenth century, artists were searching for a national art to reclaim the country's sense of identity. A group known as the Lysaker Circle found a solution in uplifting the Norwegian peasant, the landscape, and the "primitive," categorized as...
| Other Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Thesis |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
2020
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| Online Access: | https://digitalcollections.wesleyan.edu/islandora/nordic-peasant-vision-codifications-nationalism-norwegian-art-nineteenth-century https://doi.org/10.14418/wes01.1.2317 https://digitalcollections.wesleyan.edu/sites/default/files/2023-03/23962-Thumbnail%20Image.png |
| Summary: | In a period of unrest in Norway in the nineteenth century, artists were searching for a national art to reclaim the country's sense of identity. A group known as the Lysaker Circle found a solution in uplifting the Norwegian peasant, the landscape, and the "primitive," categorized as the "truly" Norwegian, untainted by foreign influences and highlighting the strength and originality of the Norwegian people. Members of the Lysaker Circle included playwright Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson (1832-1910), journal editor Gerhard Gran (1856-1925), composer Edvard Grieg (1843-1907), composter Thorvald Lammers (1841-1922), historian Ernst Sars (1835-1917), explorer Fridtjof Nansen (1861-1930), folklorist Moltke Moe (1859-1913), and art critic and historian Andreas Aubert (1851-1913). The visual artists of the group included Christian Skredsvig (1854-1924), Erik Werenskiold (1855-1938), Gerhard Munthe (1849-1929), Kitty Kielland (1843-1914), Eilif Peterssen (1852-1928), and Harriet Backer (1845-1932). This thesis concentrates on the art surrounding the Norwegian struggle for independence from Sweden. Norway and Sweden shared a dual monarch from 1814-1905, after four hundred years of joint rulership under Denmark. In essence, the Norwegian people did not have their own independent rulership since the medieval era. From the 14th century, Norway was a part of the Kalmar Union between Sweden, Norway, and Denmark until the 16th century, when it was incorporated into Denmark alone, under whose rule it remained until 1814, when Denmark ceded Norway to Sweden in the Treaty of Kiel in 1814. During this union between Norway and Sweden, a period of self-discovery, the Norwegian people strove to find a culture and identity that was uniquely their own and free from the influences of its neighbors. In order to find and uplift a truly Norwegian culture, they turned to a time before the 14th century when Norway was an independent territory. In that process of looking back for a signifier of the future, Norwegians of the nineteenth century found a ... |
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