Håkon Stenstadvold (2 August 1912 – 7 October 1977) was a Norwegian painter, illustrator, journalist, art critic and politician for the

Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...

Personal life

He was born in

Sarpsborg Sarpsborg ( or ), historically Borg, is a city and municipality in Viken county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the city of Sarpsborg. Sarpsborg is part of the fifth largest urban area in Norway when paired with neigh ...

as a son of Christen Stenstadvold (1873–1952) and his wife Alfhild Pedersen (1887–1960). He was a brother of Karl Stenstadvold, and lived in

Sandvika Sandvika () is the administrative centre of the municipality of Bærum in Norway. It was declared a List of cities in Norway, city by the municipal council (Norway), municipal council in Bærum on 4 June 2003. Sandvika is situated approximately ...

. He married Ingeborg Anvik in January 1943, and is the father of businessperson and politician

Halvor Stenstadvold Halvor Stenstadvold (born ) is a Norwegian businessperson and politician for the Conservative Party. A political scientist by education, he spent most of his career in the Federation of Norwegian Industries and Orkla Group. He has also been the ...

Education and career

He studied at the

Norwegian National Academy of Fine Arts The Norwegian National Academy of Arts ( no, Statens kunstakademi) is a Norwegian Academy offering studies in the area of Fine Art. The Academy currently offers 3-year bachelor and 2-year MA programmes. The "Norwegian National Academy of the Arts" ...

from 1931 to 1934 and at Academie Scandinave,

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 ...

from 1934 to 1935. He later conducted several study trips in Italy and France in 1938 (studying under

Marcel Gromaire Marcel Gromaire (24 July 1892 – 11 April 1971) was a French painter. He painted many works on social subjects and is often associated with Social Realism, but Gromaire can be said to have created an independent oeuvre distinct from groups a ...

and

Pierre Dubreuil Pierre Dubreuil (March 5, 1872 – January 9, 1944) was a French photographer, born in Lille, who spent his career in France and Belgium. As a pioneer of modernist photography, Dubreuil embraced innovative techniques and ideas that were celebrate ...

), 1948, 1951 and 1955 to 1956. Stenstadvold was represented at the National Autumn Exhibition of 1934, and held his first own exhibit in 1938. He painted in the figurative style. The pinnacle work of his career was the illustrations of the book trilogy ''

Kristin Lavransdatter ''Kristin Lavransdatter'' is a trilogy of historical novels written by Nobel laureate Sigrid Undset. The individual novels are ''Kransen'' (''The Wreath''), first published in 1920, ''Husfrue'' (''The Wife''), published in 1921, and ''Korset'' ...

''. He is also represented with works in the

National Museum A national museum is a museum maintained and funded by a national government. In many countries it denotes a museum run by the central government, while other museums are run by regional or local governments. In other countries a much greater numb ...

Stockholm Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...

. Stenstadvold issued several books, and was a journalist in ''Bo-Nytt'' from 1942 to 1969 and an

art critic An art critic is a person who is specialized in analyzing, interpreting, and evaluating art. Their written critiques or reviews contribute to art criticism and they are published in newspapers, magazines, books, exhibition brochures, and catalogue ...

in ''

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 ...

'' from 1946 to 1953. He was also member of

Bærum Bærum () is a municipality in the Greater Oslo Region in Norway that forms an affluent suburb of Oslo on the west coast of the city. Bærum is Norway's fifth largest municipality with a population of 128,760 (2021). It is part of the electoral ...

municipal council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, rural counci ...

from 1956 to 1959. From 1964 to 1977 he was the rector of 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 ...

. Stenstadvold was decorated as a Knight, First Class of the

Royal Norwegian Order of St. Olav Royal may refer to: People * Royal (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name * A member of a royal family Places United States * Royal, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Royal, Illinois, a village * Royal, Iowa, a cit ...

in 1969. He died on in

. A square in Sandvika, ''Håkon Stenstadvolds plass'', has been named for him.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stenstadvold, Haakon 1912 births 1977 deaths 20th-century Norwegian painters Norwegian male painters Norwegian illustrators Norwegian art critics Oslo National Academy of the Arts alumni Norwegian expatriates in France Norwegian expatriates in Italy Academic staff of the Oslo National Academy of the Arts Rectors of universities and colleges in Norway Bærum politicians People from Sarpsborg Conservative Party (Norway) politicians 20th-century Norwegian writers 20th-century Norwegian journalists 20th-century Norwegian male artists