Munch’s art wins place in the sun

It’s been heady times of late for Norway’s most famous artist, Edvard Munch. Long hailed abroad but seemingly ignored at home, Munch’s art itself is finally getting massive display, through a major exhibition opening this weekend at both the Munch Museum and the National Gallery in Oslo and, later, in a new, much larger museum [...]

State helped pay for journalists’ Munch coverage

Norwegian media have been reporting about large numbers of foreign journalists arriving in Oslo to cover the weekend opening of a major new exhibit featuring artist Edvard Munch and his art. On Friday came reports that Norway’s foreign ministry has paid the travel and accommodation costs of many of the journalists, and that’s sparked criticism [...]

Norwegian art on the Internet

Norway’s National Gallery and Munch Museum, already cooperating on the biggest exhibition of art by Edvard Munch ever, are also joining the Google Art Project and offering digital visits on the Internet. The project is aimed at making art and culture around the world accessible on the Internet. Visitors can take a virtual tour through [...]

Majority hails new Munch Museum

More than half of Norwegians surveyed in a new public opinion poll were glad and relieved that Oslo’s city government finally agreed this week on a site and design for a new Munch Museum. Others, including many in the tourism business, were thrilled. They think the new museum will attract thousands of new visitors to [...]

New Munch Museum finally approved

Just days before the opening in Oslo of what’s billed as the largest exhibition ever of Edvard Munch’s art comes news that a majority of Oslo politicians finally have agreed on a site for a new Munch Museum. Their long-sought compromise ends years of quarreling that had become an international embarrassment. The high-rise museum design [...]

Munch texts a ‘hidden treasure’

Edvard Munch wasn’t just a painter, he was also a prolific author whose writing deserves to be better known, claims Norwegian writer, composer and pianist Ketil Bjørnstad. He calls it a “scandal” that the artist’s texts have been hidden away from the public in the archives of the Munch Museum in Oslo. Norway’s most famous [...]

New museum seeks new funding

As Oslo’s new Astrup Fearnley Museum launched its first new exhibit since it re-opened in a new landmark location on the waterfront last year, its leaders were hoping for new funding from the state. For the first time since the museum opened 20 years ago, it’s applied for NOK 7 million in state support because [...]

Museum launches artworks probe

Officials at one of Norway’s leading art museums, the Henie Onstad Art Centre just west of Oslo, are now investigating the origins of 18 of its most famous pre-war artworks, following allegations that Henie Onstad has a Matisse painting in its collection that was stolen by the Nazis during World War II. Heirs to the Jewish art collector [...]

State steps in with Munch support

After years of quarreling among city officials over construction of a new Munch Museum, the state is finally stepping in with an offer to share costs. The move by Culture Minister Hadia Tajik may end the conflict and get the project back on track. Newspaper Dagbladet reported Wednesday that the state government will offer financial [...]

City halts cuts at Munch Museum

Drama and unrest at Oslo’s Munch Museum continued on Wednesday after city officials ultimately in charge of Norwegian artist Edvard Munch’s legacy halted looming staff cuts and demanded more budget accountability from the museum’s management. Museum Director Stein Olav Henrichsen is the target of criticism over his leadership and an alleged lack of budget discipline. [...]

City puts damper on Munch’s party

Famed Norwegian artist Edvard Munch may either be spinning in his grave or snorting posthumously at the latest move by the Oslo city officials responsible for his legacy: Munch Museum management had no choice but to inform employees this week that staffing would be cut by more than 20 percent. The cuts ordered by the [...]

Munch celebration gets underway

After months, even years, of planning, quarreling and funding worries, Norway’s cultural elite gathered in Oslo Wednesday to kick off a year of celebrations to mark the 150th birthday of the country’s most famous artist, Edvard Munch. King Harald was among those attending the festivities at the Oslo City Hall. City officials still haven’t been [...]

Thieves hit Bergen museum, again

Art thieves described as “professional” and extremely goal-oriented struck an art museum in Bergen over the weekend for the  second time in three years. They made off with another haul of valuable Chinese antiques in porcelain, jade, bronze and paper. “The thieves operated quickly, effectively and professionally,” Erlend Høyersten, director of the city’s group of [...]

Museum caught in painting dispute

A valuable painting by French artist Henri Matisse, now claimed to have been stolen by the Nazis during World War II, has been hanging on the walls of one of  Norway’s leading art museums, the Henie Onstad Kunstsenter, for decades. Now the Henie Onstad Art Centre finds itself caught in conflict over the painting, with [...]

Munch celebrated amidst quarreling

Norway’s most famous artist, Edvard Munch, would have turned 149 years old on Wednesday. He’ll be the subject of a local jubilee for the next 12 months, in the run-up to his 150th birthday, despite disappointing funding for it and Oslo politicians’ failure to agree on a new museum to house his priceless works. The [...]

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