NEWS ANALYSIS: Thousands of Norwegians including royalty and top politicians were gathering in Oslo Friday night for the official opening of their new monument to the country’s most famous artist, Edvard Munch. They were all being reminded, meanwhile, of the decades during which Munch’s legacy was neglected, when officials in charge fought over funding and […]
Step inside Oslo’s new ‘MUNCH’
October 20, 2021
PHOTO FEATURE: Overwhelming and long overdue, Oslo’s newest landmark to house the works of Norwegian artist Edvard Munch is finally opening to the public this weekend. The huge collection of Munch’s own work that the city inherited in 1944 is finally getting the exhibit space it deserves. It took the City of Oslo nearly 80 years […]
Munch’s ‘Madonna’ revealed sketching
October 5, 2021
A new infrared examination of Norwegian artist Edvard Munch’s famed Madonna has revealed how Munch did some sketching on the canvas before he started painting. The exam was carried out on the National Museum’s own version of the iconic work. Under its surface, conservators Thierry Ford and photographer Børre Høstland could detect sketching that could […]
Viking ships sail out of public view
September 30, 2021
Norway’s famed Viking Ships Museum was closing its doors on Thursday, and won’t reopen until a new “Museum of the Viking Age” emerges in its place in 2025. It means Norway’s greatest national treasures won’t be seen for nearly five years, and that’s sparked complaints. “This is extremely problematic,” said Mona Pahle Bjerke, art critic […]
National Museum set to finally reopen
June 11, 2021
Norway’s new consolidated National Museum of Art, Architecture and Design will finally open its doors on June 11, 2022, after repeated delays and snafus. It’s been seven years since site preparation and construction began, and six years since some of its treasures disappeared from public view. The new art museum, which has slowly risen on […]
Billionaire art patron laid to rest
May 7, 2021
Tributes have been rolling in for weeks after Hans Rasmus Astrup, the shipping billionaire best known for being one of the world’s leading art collectors, died at his elegant farm east of Oslo in late April. He was hailed as a friendly and generous man who’d inherited part of a shipping empire and did very well […]
National Museum bought Gude painting
April 23, 2021
Norway’s National Museum has emerged as the buyer of a rare and spectacular landscape painting by Norwegian artist Hans Fredrik Gude. The price set a new record at an auction earlier this week. “We are incredibly glad that we bought this painting,” Karin Hindsbo, director of the National Museum, told state broadcaster NRK Friday night. […]
‘Sinnataggen’ back in place
April 22, 2021
Norway’s cherished statue of an angry little boy called “Sinnataggen” is back in its place in the Vigelands Park section of Oslo’s Frogner Park. The statue was vandalized again earlier this month, when someone tried to saw through the little boy’s left ankle. “We have received many messages from the public that they missed the […]
New ‘MUNCH’ ready to receive its art
April 19, 2021
The long-awaited moving process from Oslo’s old Munch Museum to the brand-new museum simply called “MUNCH” is about to get underway. After lengthy delays, not all of them Corona-related, the new museum will finally open to the public this fall. “This represents a major milestone in Munch’s history,” Svein Olav Henrichsen, director of the Munch […]
Famed sculpture vandalized again
April 6, 2021
Someone has tried once again to saw through the ankle of Norway’s iconic bronze sculpture of an angry little boy in Oslo’s Frogner Park. This time, however, the vandals may have been captured on surveillance cameras. The small sculpture called Sinnataggen, which depicts a naked little boy having a temper tantrum, was attacked during the night […]
CURRENCY RATES