Ambrosia Tønnesen (28 January 1859 – 21 January 1948) was a Norwegian sculptor. She is regarded as the first professional female sculptor in Norway, and is best known for her many portraits, including

statue A statue is a free-standing sculpture in which the realistic, full-length figures of persons or animals are carved or cast in a durable material such as wood, metal or stone. Typical statues are life-sized or close to life-size; a sculpture t ...

s, busts, and

relief Relief is a sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces are bonded to a solid background of the same material. The term ''relief'' is from the Latin verb ''relevo'', to raise. To create a sculpture in relief is to give the impression that the ...

Personal life and education

Tønnesen was born in

Ålesund Ålesund () sometimes spelled Aalesund in English, is a municipality in Møre og Romsdal County, Norway. It is part of the traditional district of Sunnmøre and the centre of the Ålesund Region. The town of Ålesund is the administrative ...

, a daughter of

steamship A steamship, often referred to as a steamer, is a type of steam-powered vessel, typically ocean-faring and seaworthy, that is propelled by one or more steam engines that typically move (turn) propellers or paddlewheels. The first steamships ...

master Abraham Tønnesen (1818–1868) and Thomine Jonasen. She worked as a schoolteacher in

Bergen Bergen (), historically Bjørgvin, is a city and municipality in Vestland county on the west coast of Norway. , its population is roughly 285,900. Bergen is the second-largest city in Norway. The municipality covers and is on the peninsula of ...

for some years, while also studying drawing, modeling, and painting. In 1885 she travelled to

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...

where she studied with painter

Bertha Wegmann Bertha Wegmann (1847–1926) was a Danish portrait painter of German ancestry. She was the first woman to hold a chair at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts. Life When Bertha Wegmann was five years old, her family moved to Copenhagen, where her ...

and sculptor

Stephan Sinding Stephan Abel Sinding (4 August 1846 – 23 January 1922) was a Norwegian-Danish sculptor. He moved to Copenhagen in 1883 and had his breakthrough the same year. In 1890 he obtained Danish citizenship. In 1910 he settled in Paris where he lived ...

. She then studied with sculptor Albert Wolff in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

, and further with

René de Saint-Marceaux Charles René de Paul de Saint-Marceaux (23 September 1845 – 23 April 1915) was a French sculptor. Biography He was born in Reims on 23 September 1845 to Alexandre Jean de Paul de Saint-Marceaux, a member of a noble family, and Emélie Isabell ...

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

. Ambrosia met her partner, Mary Banks, in 1888 and the two women lived together for 30 years in Paris, and Bergen, Norway.

Career

Among Tønnesen's early sculptures are ''Våren'' (1885), ''Sneklokken'' (1887; a young girl), ''Den onde Hjørdis'' (1890), and ''Den korsfestede Kristus'' ("The Crucified Christ"; marble sculpture in

Årstad Church Årstad Church ( no, Årstad kirke) is a parish church of the Church of Norway in Bergen Municipality in Vestland county, Norway. It is located in the Årstad neighborhood in the city of Bergen. It is the church for the Årstad parish which is p ...

, 1890). She made a large number of portraits (

s, busts, and

s), and is regarded as the first female Norwegian sculptor who made her living from her art. Her portraits include statues of

Ole Bull Ole Bornemann Bull (; 5 February 181017 August 1880) was a Norwegian virtuoso violinist and composer. According to Robert Schumann, he was on a level with Niccolò Paganini for the speed and clarity of his playing. Biography Background Bull was ...

Johan Christian Dahl Johan Christian Claussen Dahl (24 February 178814 October 1857), often known as or , was a Danish-Norwegian artist who is considered the first great romantic painter in Norway, the founder of the "golden age" of Norwegian painting, and, by some ...

, and

Camilla Collett Jacobine Camilla Collett (née Wergeland; 23 January 1813 – 6 March 1895) was a Norwegian writer, often referred to as the first Norwegian feminist. She was also the younger sister of Norwegian poet Henrik Wergeland, and is recognized as bein ...

; reliefs of

Dorothe Engelbretsdatter Dorothe Engelbretsdatter (16 January 163419 February 1716) was a Norwegian author. She principally wrote hymns and poems which were strongly religious. She has been characterized as Norway's first recognized female author as well as Norway's fi ...

and

Petter Dass Petter Pettersen Dass (c. 1647 – 17 August 1707) was a Lutheran priest and the foremost Norwegian poet of his generation, writing both baroque hymns and topographical poetry. Biography He was born at Northern Herøy (Dønna), Nordland, No ...

; and busts of

Edvard Grieg Edvard Hagerup Grieg ( , ; 15 June 18434 September 1907) was a Norwegian composer and pianist. He is widely considered one of the foremost Romantic era composers, and his music is part of the standard classical repertoire worldwide. His use of ...

(marble, 1902), Ole Irgens (bronze, 1906),

Amalie Skram Amalie Skram (22 August 1846 – 15 March 1905) was a Norwegian author and feminist who gave voice to a woman's point of view with her naturalist writing. In Norway, she is frequently considered the most important female writer of the Modern Bre ...

(marble, 1916, at Bergen Kunstmuseum),

Gina Krog Jørgine Anna Sverdrup "Gina" Krog (20 June 1847 – 14 April 1916) was a Norwegian suffragist, teacher, liberal politician, writer and editor, and a major figure in liberal feminism in Scandinavia. She played a central role in the Norwegian l ...

(bronze, 1919),

Claus Fasting Claus Fasting (29 October 1746 – 25 December 1791) was a Norwegian playwright, literary critic, editor and civil servant. Among his literary works were the song ''Harmonisang'' (1769) and his journals ''Provinzialsamlinger'' (1791). Bio ...

, bronze, 1924),

Christian Michelsen Peter Christian Hersleb Kjerschow Michelsen (15 March 1857 – 29 June 1925), better known as Christian Michelsen, was a Norwegian shipping magnate and statesman. He was the first prime minister of independent Norway and Norway's 9th prime minis ...

(bronze, 1924), Henrik Angell (bronze, 1924), Wollert Konow (bronze, 1925), and (bronze, 1942). Tønnesen was decorated with the French order Officier d'Académie.

Death

She died in

Fana Fana is a borough of the city of Bergen in Vestland county, Norway. The borough makes up the southeastern part of the municipality of Bergen. The borough was once part of the historic municipality of Fana which was incorporated into Bergen in ...

(now Bergen) on 21 January 1948, aged 88.

Literature

* * Jorunn Veiteberg (2009) ''Ambrosia Tønnesen. Stenhugger i det Fine''Turid Larsen (23 October 2009
En ugift kvinne med suksess
''Dagsavisen''. Retrieved from Webarchive

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tonnesen, Ambrosia 1859 births 1948 deaths 19th-century Norwegian sculptors 19th-century Norwegian women artists 20th-century Norwegian sculptors 20th-century Norwegian women artists Lesbian artists LGBT people from Norway Norwegian women sculptors People from Ålesund Officiers of the Ordre des Palmes Académiques