Gustav Vigeland

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Image:Norvegia 141.jpg Gustav Vigeland (April 11 1869 – March 12 1943) was a Norwegian sculptor.

1 Biography
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Biography

Formation

He was born in Mandal, a small coastal town in the south of Norway, to a family of crasftsmen and countrymen. As a youth, he was sent to Oslo where he learned to read and carve wood at a local school. However, the sudden death of his father compelled him to move back to Mandel to help his family.

He returned to Oslo in 1888, this time determined to become a professional sculptor. Vigeland came to the attention of sculptor Bryunjulf Bergslien, who supported him and gave him practical training. The following year he exposed his first work, Hagar and Ishmael.

Vigeland spent the years from 1891 to 1896 in several voyages abroad, including Copenhagen, Paris, Berlin and Florence. In the French capital he could frequent August Rodin's workshop, while in Italy he could experiment ancient and Renaissance artworks. In these years appeared the themes tha would later dominated his inspiration: the death and the relationship between man and woman. He held his first personal exhibition in Norway in 1894 and 1896, meeting a notable critical praise.

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First public works

Image:SnorriByVigland.jpg Until 1902 Vigeland was engaged in the restoration of the Nidaros Cathedral in Trondheim. The contact with the Mediaeval art contributed to another frequent theme in Vigeland's art, the drake as symbol of sin but also as a nature force, fighting against man.

Back in Oslo, he obtained from the town an abandoned studio where to work. In 1905 Norway became independent from Sweden: Vigeland, considered the most talented Norwegian sculptor, received numerous commissions for statues and bust celebrating renowned compatriotes like Henrik Ibsen and Niels Henrik Abel.

In 1906 Vigeland proposed a chalk model for a monumental fountain which, according to the initial will of the Oslo commune, had to decorate the square in front of the National Parliament. His work was generally welcomed, but the location create a disputed: the work completion was therefore postponed. In the meantime Vigeland enlarged the original project, adding several sculpture groups and, in 1919, a high granite column. Image:Vigeland statue grandfather child.jpg

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Vigeland Park

In 1921 the Oslo commune decide to destroy the old house where Vigeland live to build a library. After a dispute, Vigeland received from the commune a new edifice where he could work and live: in exchange, he promised to donate the city all his subsequent works, including sculptures, drawings, engravings and models.

Vigeland moved to his new studio in 1924, in Kirkeveien. This was located not far from the Frogner Park, which he had chosen as definitive location for his fountain. In the following twenty years Vigeland devoted to the project of the open exhibition of his works, which later turned into what is universally known as Vigeland Park.

Vigeland lived and worked in his Kirkeveien house intil his death, in 1943. His ashes are still preserved there, within a tower. As promised in the agreement with the city of Oslo, the edifice has been turned into the Vigeland Museum: it houses various works by the artist, along with all the chalk models of the Vigeland Park sculptures.

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