Herbjørn Nilson Gaustå also Herbjorn Gausta (June 16, 1854 – May 22, 1924) was an American artist who is best known for his landscapes, portraits, and scenes from rural settings. He left an early record of immigrant life in his portraits and paintings and helped establish a place for art in the culture of

Norwegian-American Norwegian Americans ( nb, Norskamerikanere, nn, Norskamerikanarar) are Americans with ancestral roots in Norway. Norwegian immigrants went to the United States primarily in the latter half of the 19th century and the first few decades of the ...

Biography

Gausta was born on the Gausta farm in Mæl parish in the municipality of

Tinn Tinn is a municipality in Telemark in the county of Vestfold og Telemark in Norway. It is part of the traditional regions of Upper Telemark and Øst-Telemark. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Rjukan. The parish of ''T ...

Telemark Telemark is a traditional region, a former county, and a current electoral district in southern Norway. In 2020, Telemark merged with the former county of Vestfold to form the county of Vestfold og Telemark. Telemark borders the traditional ...

county,

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

. In 1867, Gausta immigrated to America with his parents and four sisters, settling on a farm near Harmony, Minnesota. Gausta entered a training program for parochial school teachers at Luther College in 1872. He left for Europe three years later on a stipend provided by the community of

Decorah, Iowa Decorah is a city in and the county seat of Winneshiek County, Iowa, United States. The population was 7,587 at the time of the 2020 census. Decorah is located at the intersection of State Highway 9 and U.S. Route 52, and is the largest commun ...

under the leadership of

Ulrik Vilhelm Koren Ulrik Vilhelm Koren (December 22, 1826 – December 19, 1910) was a Norwegian-American author, theologian and church leader. A pioneer Lutheran minister, he played a significant role in the development of the spiritual and intellectual development ...

. Gausta studied at

Knud Bergslien Knud Larsen Bergslien (15 May 1827 – 27 November 1908) was a Norwegian painter, art teacher and master artist. In his art, he frequently portrayed the lives of the Norwegian people, their history and heroes of the past. Bergslien is most associ ...

's Academy of Art 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 ...

and also attended the

Academy of Fine Arts, Munich The Academy of Fine Arts, Munich (german: Akademie der Bildenden Künste München, also known as Munich Academy) is one of the oldest and most significant art academies in Germany. It is located in the Maxvorstadt district of Munich, in Bavaria, ...

He returned to Decorah and taught at Luther College during the 1886-1887 academic year. He lived with the U.V. Koren family at the Washington Prairie parsonage while teaching at Luther College. Subsequently, Gausta based his studio in

Minneapolis, MN Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origins ...

, where he supported himself principally by painting portraits of prominent

s and producing altarpieces for

Lutheran Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Catholic Church launched th ...

churches. His landscapes and genre paintings were well-received, particularly those painted during his early years. There are almost 60 paintings by Gausta in the Fine Arts Collection of Luther College. Gausta was good friends with the entertainers Eleonora and Ethel Olson. ''Yust For Fun'', a book published by the Olson Sisters in 1925, had two illustrations that he may have drawn. Gausta taught at the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota, formally the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, (UMN Twin Cities, the U of M, or Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Tw ...

until his death in 1924. Gausta, who never married, was buried in

Harmony In music, harmony is the process by which individual sounds are joined together or composed into whole units or compositions. Often, the term harmony refers to simultaneously occurring frequencies, pitches ( tones, notes), or chords. However ...

, Minnesota, alongside a 16-foot granite monument which was erected in his honor in 1927."Historic Gausta paintings discovered during renovation of parsonage"
by Lissa Greiner ''The Decorah Newspapers'' March 31, 2009.

References

External links

Online book
''My Minneapolis:''

Nasjonalbiblioteket The National Library of Norway ( no, Nasjonalbiblioteket) was established in 1989. Its principal task is "to preserve the past for the future". The library is located both in Oslo and in Mo i Rana. The building in Oslo was restored and reopened i ...

52. Herbjørn Gausta
Articles
"Bumping into a sliver of church history"Herbjørn Gausta: U. S. Department of State
Paintings
''Setting the Trap''''Farm Landscape''Fine Arts Collection at Vesterheim''Washington Prairie Parsonage:''
pp. 78–79.
Exhibition at U. S. Embassy in Oslo:
pp. 26–27. Luther College Fine Arts Collection
Selected portraits1882 Jacob D. Jacobsen1883 Diderrike Brandt1885 Herman Amberg Preus1885 Caroline Keyser Preus
Photos
Herbjørn Gausta
with Eleonora and Ethel Olson
Herbjørn Gausta: Norwegian American Hall of Fame
Drawing by Herbjørn Gausta
''Aslaug'' in ''Telesoga'' 1919
Drawings attributed to Herbjørn Gausta
''The Fire At Kniperud's'' in ''Yust For Fun'' 1925''The Old Sogning Woman'' in ''Yust For Fun'' 1925
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gausta, Herbjorn 1854 births 1924 deaths Academy of Fine Arts, Munich alumni American artists American Lutherans Norwegian emigrants to the United States People from Harmony, Minnesota People from Telemark University of Minnesota faculty

Biography

Further reading

References

External links