Portrait of Frederik Collett by Frits Thaulow

Frederik Jonas Lucian Bothfield Collett (25 March 1839 – 19 April 1914) was a

Norwegian Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe * Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway * Demographics of Norway *The Norwegian language, including ...

painter, perhaps most associated with his winter pictures from the region around Lillehammer, Norway.

Background

Collett was born at Christiania, Norway. He grew up in a prominent family of politicians and officials. He was the son of Justice Johan Collett (1800–1877) and Marie Frederikke Thomason (1810–1839). He was the grandson of Norwegian statesman, Jonas Collett.Collett
'Store norske leksikon'' He was the only child of Johan Collett (1800-1877) and Marie Frederikke Thomason (1810-1839). His mother died three days after his birth. Frederik Collett wanted to learn more about painting, and together with his father, he visited

Hans Gude Hans Fredrik Gude (March 13, 1825August 17, 1903) was a Norwegian romanticist painter and is considered along with Johan Christian Dahl to be one of Norway's foremost landscape painters. He has been called a mainstay of Norwegian National Roma ...

Düsseldorf Düsseldorf ( , , ; often in English sources; Low Franconian and Ripuarian language, Ripuarian: ''Düsseldörp'' ; archaic nl, Dusseldorp ) is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second- ...

. It was the start of an 8 year long education in art.

Career

He had a small annuity which made him financially independent. Frederik Collett settled in Lillehammer, and worked as a painter. Collett traveled extensively throughout his life, but he also had a small apartment in Christiania. Travels often went to the same destination,

Florø is a town and the administrative centre of the municipality of Kinn, Vestland, Norway. The town was founded by royal decree in 1860 as a ladested on the island of Florelandet, located between the Botnafjorden and Solheimsfjorden. Florø is N ...

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 o ...

Jæren Jæren is a Districts of Norway, traditional district in Rogaland county, Norway. The other districts in Rogaland are Dalane, Ryfylke, and Haugalandet. Jæren is one of the 15 districts that comprise Western Norway. At about , Jæren is the large ...

Porsgrunn is a city and municipality in Telemark in the county of Vestfold og Telemark in Norway. It is part of the traditional region of Grenland. The administrative centre of the municipality is the city of Porsgrunn. The municipality of Porsgrunn w ...

, and Lillehammer. In winter, he was in the interior, while in summer by the sea. Collett attended the annual Autumn Exhibition in Oslo (''

Høstutstillingen Høstutstillingen or Statens kunstutstilling (English: ''The Autumn Exhibition'' or ''National Art Exhibition'') is an annual art exhibition in Oslo, Norway. The exhibition is Norway's largest marking of contemporary art and takes place each autum ...

'') 14 times from 1885 to 1912. Collett was also among the Norwegian painters who represented Norway at the major exhibitions abroad, including world exhibitions in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, 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), ma ...

(1889 and 1900) and

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

(1893), Stockholm and

St. Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

, (1897). From the 1860s until the middle of the 1870s Collett's work was strongly influenced by Gude and German Romanticism. In 1861 he went on a study trip together with Hans Gude and

Peter Nicolai Arbo Peter Nicolai Arbo (18 June 1831 – 14 October 1892) was a Norwegian historical painter, who specialized in portraits and allegorical scenes from Norwegian history and the Norse mythology. He is most noted for ''The Wild Hunt of Odin'', a d ...

. In the autumn of 1862 Hans Gude set off for the Lledr Valley near

Conwy Conwy (, ), previously known in English as Conway, is a walled market town, community and the administrative centre of Conwy County Borough in North Wales. The walled town and castle stand on the west bank of the River Conwy, facing Deganwy on ...

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, a place renowned for its picturesque scenery. Frederik Collett, together with

Adolph Tidemand Adolph Tidemand (14 August 18148 August 1876) was a noted Norwegian romantic nationalism painter. Among his best known paintings are ''Haugianerne'' (''The Haugeans''; 1852) and '' Brudeferd i Hardanger'' (''The Bridal Procession in Hardanger'' ...

, visited Gude where the three traveled to Caernarvon and Holyhead. Collett's painting ''Fra Wales'' (1863) resulted from that trip. From the 1890s, he was a natural center of a circle of artists. He maintained close friendships with fellow painters

Erik Werenskiold Erik Theodor Werenskiold (11 February 1855 – 23 November 1938) was a Norwegian painter and illustrator. He is especially known for his drawings for the Asbjørnsen and Moe collection of '' Norske Folkeeventyr'', and his illustrations for ...

Lars Jorde Lars Jorde (22 May 1865 – 25 September 1939) was a Norwegian painter and illustrator. Biography He was born at Vang in Hedmark, Norway. He entered the Norwegian National Academy of Craft and Art Industry in 1889. He studied under Gerhard Mun ...

and

Gerhard Munthe Gerhard Peter Frantz Munthe (19 July 1849 in Elverum, Hedmark – 15 January 1929 in Lysaker, Bærum) was a Norwegian painter and illustrator. Background Munthe was born in Elverum to physician Christopher Pavels Munthe (1816–1884) and his ...

. Of his total production, some 230 paintings have been recorded.

Personal life

Frederik Collett never married. He died at Gjørlia ved Lillehammer in

Oppland Oppland is a former county in Norway which existed from 1781 until its dissolution on 1 January 2020. The old Oppland county bordered the counties of Trøndelag, Møre og Romsdal, Sogn og Fjordane, Buskerud, Akershus, Oslo and Hedmark. The c ...

Selected works

* ''Fra Wales'', 1863 * ''Måneskinn ved Kuxhavn'', 1866 * ''Kanalbilde'', 1872 * ''Gran med sne'', 1875 * ''Det gamle rikshospital'', 1877 * ''Sommerlandskap med høns'', 1879 * ''Fra Grez'', 1879 * ''Ved Mesnas utløp'', 1881

References

Norwegian people of English descent 1839 births 1914 deaths 19th-century Norwegian painters 20th-century Norwegian painters Norwegian male painters Frederik 19th-century Norwegian male artists 20th-century Norwegian male artists {{Norway-painter-stub