Jakob Henrik Gerhard Fjelde (10 April 1859 – 5 May 1896) was a Norwegian-born

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

sculptor.Harris, Moira F., ''Monumental Minnesota: A Guide to Outdoor Sculpture'', Pogo Press, 1992, pg. 6 He is remembered as both a prolific portraitist and the creator of public monuments. One of his better known works is the one dedicated to the 1st Minnesota Infantry (1897) located at

Gettysburg Battlefield The Gettysburg Battlefield is the area of the July 1–3, 1863, military engagements of the Battle of Gettysburg within and around the borough of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. Locations of military engagements extend from the site of the first shot ...

where its 262 members suffered 215 casualties.

Background

Jakob Henrik Gerhard Fjelde was born at

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 administrativ ...

in Møre og Romsdal,

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 ...

. His father, Paul Gerhard Michelet Fjelde (1827–1873), was a skilled carpenter and wood carver. He had moved to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

in 1872, but died the following year. Jakob Fjelde was a pupil of Brynjulf Bergslien during 1878. He studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in

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 ...

from 1879 to 1881 and was a student of

Vilhelm Bissen Christian Gottlieb Vilhelm Bissen (5 August 1836 – 20 April 1913) was a Danish sculptor. He was also a professor at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts with great influence on the next generation of Danish sculptors and for a while serv ...

1880–1882. He travel abroad, living in

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

from 1882 to 1884. Fjelde lived and worked to Bergen, Norway from 1884 until 1887 when he immigrated to the United States. After arriving in America he settled in

Minneapolis, Minnesota 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 ...

. The following year he married the Danish-born Margrethe Madsen. They eventually had four children. He was the father of sculptor

Paul Fjelde Paul Fjelde (August 12, 1892 – May 3, 1984) was a noted American sculptor and educator. Background Paul Fjelde was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He was the son of Jacob Fjelde, who was a well-known sculptor in Norway when he emigrated ...

and the brother of artist

Pauline Fjelde Pauline Gerhardine Fjelde (May 1861 – December 23, 1923) was a Norwegian-born American painter, embroiderer, and textile artist. Background Pauline Gerhardine Fjelde was born in Ålesund, Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. She and her family immi ...

. His grandsons included Ibsen scholar Rolf G. Fjelde.

Career

At the Industrial Exposition in Minneapolis during 1889 and 1890, Fjelde presented 18 busts and relief portraits, including marble busts of

Sven Oftedal Sven Oftedal (March 22, 1844 – March 30, 1911) was a Norwegian American Lutheran minister. He served as the 3rd president of Augsburg University and helped found the Lutheran Free Church. Background Sven Svensen Oftedal was born in Stavanger, ...

and

Georg Sverdrup Georg Sverdrup (born Jørgen Sverdrup; 25 April 1770 – 8 December 1850) was a Norwegian statesman, best known as one of the presidents of the Norwegian Constituent Assembly in Eidsvoll in 1814. He was a member of the Norwegian Parliament and ...

, both of whom would serve as Presidents of

Augsburg College Augsburg University is a private university in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It is affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. It was founded in 1869 as a Norwegian-American Lutheran seminary known as Augsburg Seminarium. Today, the u ...

and were founders of the

Lutheran Free Church The Lutheran Free Church (LFC) was a Lutheran denomination that existed in the United States, mainly in Minnesota and North Dakota, from 1897 until its merger into the American Lutheran Church (ALC) in 1963. The history of the church body predate ...

. At the

World's Columbian Exposition The World's Columbian Exposition (also known as the Chicago World's Fair) was a world's fair held in Chicago in 1893 to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus's arrival in the New World in 1492. The centerpiece of the Fair, hel ...

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

during 1893, he presented a bust of the

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 ...

politician

Knute Nelson Knute Nelson (born Knud Evanger; February 2, 1843 – April 28, 1923) was an American attorney and politician active in Wisconsin and Minnesota. A Republican, he served in state and national positions: he was elected to the Wisconsin and Minnesot ...

. The Minneapolis-St. Paul area hosts several of his major public bronze outdoor monuments. One is ''

Hiawatha and Minnehaha ''Hiawatha and Minnehaha'' is a sculpture by Jacob Fjelde that has stood in Minnehaha Park in Minneapolis since the early twentieth century. Now a popular fixture of the park, its placement there was originally controversial. In 1855, Henry Wadswo ...

'', a statue of

Hiawatha Hiawatha ( , also : ), also known as Ayenwathaaa or Aiionwatha, was a precolonial Native American leader and co-founder of the Iroquois Confederacy. He was a leader of the Onondaga people, the Mohawk people, or both. According to some account ...

carrying

Minnehaha Minnehaha is a Native American woman documented in Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's 1855 epic poem ''The Song of Hiawatha''. She is the lover of the titular protagonist Hiawatha and comes to a tragic end. The name, often said to mean "laughing wat ...

based on characters from

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (February 27, 1807 – March 24, 1882) was an American poet and educator. His original works include " Paul Revere's Ride", '' The Song of Hiawatha'', and ''Evangeline''. He was the first American to completely tran ...

's 1855 poem ''

The Song of Hiawatha ''The Song of Hiawatha'' is an 1855 epic poem in trochaic tetrameter by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow which features Native American characters. The epic relates the fictional adventures of an Ojibwe warrior named Hiawatha and the tragedy of his l ...

''. The statue was created for the Columbian Exposition in 1893 and permanently erected in 1912. Another, in

Loring Park Loring Park is a park in the Loring Park neighborhood of Minneapolis, Minnesota. History Loring Park was established in 1883 after the passage of the Park Act, which first created the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board. The park was first ...

in Minneapolis, is of Norwegian violin virtuoso Ole Bull was cast in 1897, a year after Fjelde's death. The

Minerva Minerva (; ett, Menrva) is the Roman goddess of wisdom, justice, law, victory, and the sponsor of arts, trade, and strategy. Minerva is not a patron of violence such as Mars, but of strategic war. From the second century BC onward, the Rom ...

bronze sculpture is located in the downtown Minneapolis Central Library. Jakob Fjelde had first sculpted

Henrik Ibsen Henrik Johan Ibsen (; ; 20 March 1828 – 23 May 1906) was a Norwegian playwright and theatre director. As one of the founders of modernism in theatre, Ibsen is often referred to as "the father of realism" and one of the most influential playw ...

from life in

Molde, Norway Molde () is a town and municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Romsdal. It is located on the Romsdal Peninsula, surrounding the Fannefjord and Moldefjord. The administrative centre of t ...

during 1885. Although Ibsen disliked sitting for artists, he took a liking to the precocious young sculptor, then 26 years old, and patiently sat for the bust. Among his portraits of Ibsen, several are noteworthy. One is located in

Tacoma, Washington Tacoma ( ) is the county seat of Pierce County, Washington, United States. A port city, it is situated along Washington's Puget Sound, southwest of Seattle, northeast of the state capital, Olympia, Washington, Olympia, and northwest of Mount ...

in Wright Park, another is at the

North Dakota State College of Science The North Dakota State College of Science (NDSCS) is a public college in Wahpeton, North Dakota. It is part of the North Dakota University System. Founded in 1903 by provision of the state constitution, the State College of Science offers degre ...

Wahpeton, North Dakota Wahpeton ( ) is a city in Richland County, in southeast North Dakota along the Bois de Sioux River at its confluence with the Otter Tail River, which forms the Red River of the North. Wahpeton is the county seat of Richland County. The populat ...

. Another bust of Ibsen, located in the Como Park, Zoo, and Conservatory in St. Paul, Minnesota was stolen from the Park in 1981. The sculpture was recovered, restored, and reinstalled by Public Art Saint Paul in 1999.Public Art Saint Paul ''Henrik Ibsen bust at Como Park''
/ref>

Gallery

File:Ole_Bull_Statue_-_panoramio.jpg, Ole Bull statue at

File:Hiawatha and Minnehaha.jpg, ''

'', 1912 statue at

Minnehaha Park Minnehaha Park is a city park in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States, and home to Minnehaha Falls and the lower reaches of Minnehaha Creek. Officially named Minnehaha Regional Park, it is part of the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board syst ...

File:Minerva by Fjelde.jpg, 1889 bronze sculpture of

Minneapolis Central Library Minneapolis Central Library, a library in downtown Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States, is the largest library of the Hennepin County Library public library system. It bills itself as having "the third largest per capita public library collecti ...

atrium. File:Johnhstevensstatue.jpg,

John H. Stevens John Harrington Stevens (June 13, 1820 – May 28, 1900) was the first authorized colonial resident on the west bank of the Mississippi River in what would become Minneapolis, Minnesota. He was granted permission to occupy the site, then part ...

statue at

. Sculptor

Johannes Gelert Johannes Sophus Gelert (1852-1923) was a Danes, Danish-born sculptor, who came to the United States in 1887 and during a span of more than thirty years produced numerous works of civic art in the Midwestern United States, Midwest and on the East ...

worked from drawings made by Fjelde.

References

External links

Sculptor Jakob Fjelde 01Sculptor Jakob Fjelde 02Marie Dreis Scheffer bust

Ole Bull statue
at

Hiawatha and Minnehaha at MNOPEDIA

Hiawatha and Minnehaha at Minnehaha FallsHenrik Ibsen bust at Wright Park in TacomaJakob Hendrik Gerhard Fjelde with his siblings"An Artist's Odyssey" in ''Twin Cities'' magazine, March 1986
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 ...

The Ole Bull Monument
Burton Hall at the University of Minnesota

in the interior of Burton Hall Hennepin County Library
Minerva statue outside of Minneapolis Central Library at 10th and Hennepin

Minerva statue inside Minneapolis Central Library at 300 Nicollet Mall
Minnesota Historical Society
Ole Bull statue at Loring ParkHenrik Ibsen bust at Como ParkHiawatha and Minnehaha statue at Minnehaha Park
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fjelde, Jakob 1855 births 1896 deaths 19th-century American sculptors 19th-century American male artists American male sculptors Artists from Minneapolis Norwegian emigrants to the United States People from Møre og Romsdal People from Ålesund Sculptors from Minnesota

Background

Career

Gallery

Further reading

References

External links