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Carl Frithjof Tidemand-Johannessen (11 September 1916 – 9 October 1958) was a Norwegian designer, illustrator, writer, author, and
craftsman. He is best known today for his
woodcut
Woodcut is a relief printing technique in printmaking. An artist carves an image into the surface of a block of wood—typically with gouges—leaving the printing parts level with the surface while removing the non-printing parts. Areas that ...
prints and for the decorative works on the
Torshov
Torshov is a neighborhood north of Grünerløkka and Lilleborg in the borough Sagene in Oslo, Norway. Oslo Tramway (''Trikken i Oslo'') provides connections with lines running between Majorstuen and Kjelsås. Vogts gate serves as the main str ...
Church in
Oslo
Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of ...
.
Background
Tidemand-Johannessen received his artistic education at the
Norwegian National Academy of Craft and Art Industry
The National College of Art and Design ( no, Statens håndverks- og kunstindustriskole) was established in 1818.
In 1996 the National College of Art and Design became part of Oslo National Academy of the Arts
The Oslo National Academy of the A ...
1935–37 under
Per Krohg, and made his debut at
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 ...
in Oslo in 1936. Tidemand-Johannessen then began studies at the
Berlin University of the Arts
The Universität der Künste Berlin (UdK; also known in English as the Berlin University of the Arts), situated in Berlin, Germany, is the largest art school in Europe. It is a public art and design school, and one of the four research universiti ...
, but was expelled by the
Nazi
Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...
management of the academy after three weeks for allegedly being a "
Degenerate art
Degenerate art (german: Entartete Kunst was a term adopted in the 1920s by the Nazi Party in Germany to describe modern art. During the dictatorship of Adolf Hitler, German modernist art, including many works of internationally renowned artists, ...
ist". After that, he participated in an illegal, underground academy in Berlin for about a year, and made study trips to
Austria
Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...
and
Hungary
Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia a ...
.
During
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, Tidemand-Johannessen participated in the
defense of Norway in 1940, and then in the
Norwegian resistance
The Norwegian resistance (Norwegian: ''Motstandsbevegelsen'') to the occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany began after Operation Weserübung in 1940 and ended in 1945. It took several forms:
*Asserting the legitimacy of the exiled government, ...
to the German occupation. He was arrested in February 1941 by the Nazi authorities. For a year and a half, between February 1941 and July 1942, he was being moved between the prisons in
Ã…kebergveien
Ã…kebergveien is a street in Oslo, Norway. The street is named after the former farm Ã…keberg.
''Ã…kebergveien 11'' formerly belonged to the brewery Ytteborgs Aktiebryggeri. In 1934 the building was acquired by the city of Oslo, and after rebuil ...
and
Møllergaten 19. Then, from 9 July 1943 onwards he was imprisoned at
Grini concentration camp
'',
'' no, Grini fangeleir'', location=Bærum, Viken, Norway, location map=Viken#Norway, built by=Norway, original use=Constructed as a women's prison, operated by=Nazi Germany, notable inmates= List of Grini prisoners, liberated by=Harry Söderma ...
.
Tidemand-Johannessen was editor-in-chief of the magazine ''Avant-garden'', which was published by the
Young Communist League of Norway
The Young Communist League of Norway ( no, Norges Kommunistiske Ungdomsforbund, NKU) was until April 2006 the youth league of Norges Kommunistiske Parti (NKP). The NKP declared on 1 April 2006 that the NKU was no longer its youth organization, an ...
until the liberation from German occupation in 1945. He continued in this position when the magazine became legal after the war. In the late 1940s he also served as a culture journalist/writer for ''
Friheten
''Friheten'' ( en, italic=yes, Freedom) is a Norwegian language biweekly newspaper, published by the Norwegian Communist Party (NKP).
History and profile
''Friheten'' was Underground media in German-occupied Europe, founded illegally in 1941 dur ...
'', the party's daily newspaper. After the war Tidemand-Johannessen taught for a while at the National Academy of Craft and Art Industry, and played a central role in the idealist-communist circles at the academy up until the
Furubotn Purge within the Communist Party of Norway in 1949.
In his time Tidemand-Johannessen became well known, and to some degree controversial, because of his radical ideas about art. In an interview in the Oslo newspaper ''
Verdens Gang
''Verdens Gang'' ("The course of the world"), generally known under the abbreviation ''VG'', is a Norwegian tabloid newspaper. In 2016, circulation numbers stood at 93,883, having declined from a peak circulation of 390,510 in 2002. ''VG'' is n ...
'' in 1953, he argued for erasing the line separating art from the crafts. Tidemand-Johannessen himself printed large, unnumbered editions of woodcuts on a manual book printing press, made possible by innovative techniques involving heat and pressure applied to the specially prepared wood panels. As a result, he could produce graphic art of high technical quality at prices most people could afford.
Tidemand-Johannessen married Blanche Aanesen and had two children, of whom the son
Kjeld Tidemand-Johannessen also became an artist.
Graphic Art
Tidemand-Johannessen produced most of his graphic art during the years 1946–1958. Much of this work is in the medium of woodcut prints. He is considered to be part of the Norwegian color-woodcut school, along with others like
Paul René Gauguin Paul René Gauguin (27 February 1911 – 14 February 1976) was a French painter, graphical artist, sculptor, book illustrator and scenographer. He was born in Copenhagen, and was a son of Pola Gauguin, and grandson of Paul Gauguin. He is pa ...
. Tidemand-Johannessen was known for his experimental approach to both process and expression, and his own visual vocabulary evolved to a large extent during his relatively few years as a practicing printmaker.
While his early work has been described as lyrical, his later work is far more stylized and formal. The woodcut ''To kvinner'' from 1954 is an example of his later work. It is part of
Storebrand's art collection.
The series ''Norway in 12 Original Color Woodcuts'' was, in the Norwegian version, published in a large edition by the publishing house Yngvil Forlag in the fall of 1953 and was presented as mass-produced book illustrations, with printed signatures. The series deals with subjects drawn from the country's
National Romanticist movement of the nineteenth century, by way of images from different and contrasting regions of Norway, in a rejuvenated design idiom and with specific themes associated with each month of the year. The series was also published in an English version, distributed by Johan Grundt Tanum Bokhandel.
Exhibitions
Before the war, Tidemand-Johannessen participated in Høstutstillingen in Oslo in 1936, 1937 and 1939. From 1946 he had several solo exhibitions, and was represented in many group shows – in Norway, Europe and Brazil. After his death in 1958 there was a memorial exhibition of his work in Galleri Per in Oslo, where he had shown at several occasions since 1947.
In more recent years, Tidemand-Johannessen has been represented in two group retrospectives: ''Den norske tresnittskolen'' (''The Norwegian Woodcut School'') at the
National Gallery of Norway
The National Gallery ( no, Nasjonalgalleriet) is a gallery in Oslo, Norway. Since 2003 it is administratively a part of the National Museum of Art, Architecture and Design.
, the admission cost is 100 Norwegian kroner.
History
It was establishe ...
in Oslo from 23 August – 26 October 1997, and ''Europeisk fargegrafikk fra Ateneums samlinger'' (''European Color Prints from the Ateneum's Collection''),
Ateneum
Ateneum is an art museum in Helsinki, Finland and one of the three museums forming the Finnish National Gallery. It is located in the centre of Helsinki on the south side of Rautatientori square close to Helsinki Central railway station. It has t ...
, Helsinki, from 1 October 2005 – 26 March 2006.
Collections
Tidemand-Johannessen is represented in the collections of the National Gallery of Norway, with eight prints, as well as in several other Norwegian galleries, both public and private. Outside of Norway, he is represented in the
Statens Museum for Kunst
The National Gallery of Denmark ( da, Statens Museum for Kunst, also known as "SMK", literally State Museum for Art) is the Danish national gallery, located in the centre of Copenhagen.
The museum collects, registers, maintains, researches and han ...
, København;
Nationalmuseum
Nationalmuseum (or National Museum of Fine Arts) is the national gallery of Sweden, located on the peninsula Blasieholmen in central Stockholm.
The museum's operations stretches far beyond the borders of Blasieholmen, the nationalmuseum manag ...
, Stockholm;
Ateneum
Ateneum is an art museum in Helsinki, Finland and one of the three museums forming the Finnish National Gallery. It is located in the centre of Helsinki on the south side of Rautatientori square close to Helsinki Central railway station. It has t ...
, Helsinki;
Rijksmuseum
The Rijksmuseum () is the national museum of the Netherlands dedicated to Dutch arts and history and is located in Amsterdam. The museum is located at the Museum Square in the borough of Amsterdam South, close to the Van Gogh Museum, the St ...
, Amsterdam;
Victoria and Albert Museum
The Victoria and Albert Museum (often abbreviated as the V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.27 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and nam ...
, London;
Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum
Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum is a museum and art gallery in Glasgow, Scotland. It reopened in 2006 after a three-year refurbishment and since then has been one of Scotland's most popular visitor attractions. The museum has 22 galleries, h ...
, Glasgow;
Metropolitan Museum
The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 1000 ...
, New York.
Torshov Church
Tidemand-Johannessen collaborated with the architect Ulf Nyquist and designed the decorative elements for
Torshov Church (''Torshov kirke'') in Oslo. The church was inaugurated on Whitsunday in 1958, and is considered to be the first modern church building of its kind in Norway. These decorative elements mainly consist of stained glass windows, glass mosaics, and decorative ironwork. At his death, Tidemand-Johannessen had completed three of the twelve stained glass windows. The remainder were completed by
Jardar Lunde (1909-1990). The decorative ironwork was executed by the master smith Fred Becker after Tidemand-Johannessen's designs.
Design
Tidemand-Johannessen built, prepared and carved the original wood panels for printing bookbinding designs for a number of books for several publishing houses in Oslo.
He explored other techniques as well, like embedding molten metal in wood objects. In the fall of 1956 Tidemand-Johannessen exhibited a group of work in
intarsia
Intarsia is a form of wood inlaying that is similar to marquetry. The start of the practice dates from before the seventh century AD. The technique of intarsia inlays sections of wood (at times with contrasting ivory or bone, or mother-of-pear ...
at Norway Design in Oslo. These were produced in collaboration with Asta Musedalslien at Norsk Intarsia AS in
Tyristrand
Tyristrand is a village in Ringerike municipality in Buskerud county, Norway.
Background
Tyristrand parish was designated a municipality following a split from Hole on 1 July 1916. The municipality of Hole made been established on 1 January 1 ...
, after designs by Tidemand-Johannessen. This exhibition received a favorable review from ''
Bonytt
''Bonytt'' is a Norwegian monthly home and interior design magazine based in Oslo, Norway. Founded in 1941, it is one of the oldest magazines in the country as well as the most popular magazine in its category.
History and profile
''Bonytt'' was ...
'', an established Norwegian magazine of arts and interior design.
In the 1950s, Tidemand-Johannessen designed a table-service for
Stavangerflint
Stavangerflint AS was an earthenware factory that was in operation from 1949 until 1979 in Stavanger, Norway.
Company history
Production of pottery earthenware, tableware for households and for the professional market started in 1949 under the ...
, produced in a limited commemorative edition for
Norges Kooperative Landsforening.
Writings
In the first years after the war, Tidemand-Johannessen wrote a short-story collection and two novels, published by
Gyldendal Norsk Forlag
Gyldendal Norsk Forlag AS, commonly referred to as Gyldendal N.F. and in Norway often only as Gyldendal, is one of the largest Norwegian publishing houses. It was founded in 1925 after buying rights to publications from the Danish publishing ho ...
: ''Vi syntes ikke det hastet'' (1945); ''Prolog over en avdød kjærlighet. Noveller'' (1946) and ''Utenfor slentrer folk forbi'' (1948). He wrote the article "Brakkebyen bygges" for the second volume of ''Griniboken'' (''The Grini Book'' – a collection of articles by former camp-prisoners), published by Gyldendal in 1947.
[Lange (ed.) pp. 304–307]
References
Literature
*Barlaup, Asbjørn: "Trykkpressa like følsom som et klaver", interview with Tidemand-Johannesssen in the Oslo-based newspaper ''
Verdens Gang
''Verdens Gang'' ("The course of the world"), generally known under the abbreviation ''VG'', is a Norwegian tabloid newspaper. In 2016, circulation numbers stood at 93,883, having declined from a peak circulation of 390,510 in 2002. ''VG'' is n ...
'', 12 December 1953.
*"Frithjof Tidemand-Johannessen død", obituary in the Oslo-based newspaper ''
Dagbladet
''Dagbladet'' (lit.: ''The Daily Magazine'') is one of Norway's largest newspapers and is published in the tabloid format. It has 1,400,000 daily readers on mobile, web and paper. Traditionally ''Dagbladet'' is considered the main liberal newsp ...
'', 10 October 1958.
*Egeland, Erik: ''Øistein Thurman – Trekkfuglen i norsk modernisme'', Labyrinth Press 1989, pp. 18–21.
*Flor, Harald: "Linjer i nyere norsk grafikk", in Dag Fyri (ed.): ''Norske grafikere i dag'', Tanum-Norli forlag 1979, pp. 7–32.
*Helliesen, Sidsel: "Fargetresnittskolen", in ''Norsk grafikk gjennom 100 år'', Aschehoug forlag 2000, pp. 169–182.
*Lange, August and Johan Schreiner (ed.): ''Griniboken bind II'', Gyldendal Norsk Forlag 1947, pp. 304–307.
*Nasjonalgalleriet: ''Norsk kunstnerleksikon'', Universitetsforlaget 1986, pp. 261–262.
*Refsum, Tor: "Frithjof Tidemand-Johannessens intarsiaarbeider", in ''Bonytt'' 1958, vol. 18, no. 3, pp. 62–63.
*Rude, Rolf: "Fargetresnitt i Galleri Per", article in the Oslo-based newspaper ''Verdens Gang'', 6 May 1947.
*Rude, Rolf: "Fargetresnitt", in ''Kunsten idag'' 1947–48, vol. 1, no. 3, pp. 20–29.
*Stenstadvold, HÃ¥kon: "Frithjof Tidemand-Johannessen", obituary in the Oslo-based newspaper ''
Aftenposten
( in the masthead; ; Norwegian for "The Evening Post") is Norway's largest printed newspaper by circulation. It is based in Oslo. It sold 211,769 copies in 2015 (172,029 printed copies according to University of Bergen) and estimated 1.2 million ...
'', 10 October 1958.
*Tidemand-Johannessen, Øistein: ''Ascendens familien Tidemand-Johannessen'', Cammermeyers boghandel 1945, p. 42.
*Verdens Gang: "Frithjof Tidemand-Johannessen er død", obituary in the Oslo-based newspaper ''Verdens Gang'', 10 October 1958.
*Østby, Leif: ''Ung norsk malerkunst'', Mittet & Co forlag 1949, p. 265.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tidemand-Johannessen, Frithjof
1916 births
1958 deaths
Artists from Oslo
Norwegian printmakers
Modern printmakers
Norwegian designers
Norwegian illustrators
Norwegian writers
Norwegian expatriates in Germany
Oslo National Academy of the Arts alumni
Oslo National Academy of the Arts faculty
Norwegian magazine editors
Norwegian communists
Norwegian resistance members
Grini concentration camp survivors
Place of birth missing
Place of death missing
20th-century Norwegian writers