Kaare Espolin Johnson (March 7, 1907 – August 16, 1994) 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 ...

artist and illustrator.

Life and work

Espolin Johnson was born at the Vasseng farm in

Surnadal Surnadal () is a municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. It is part of the Nordmøre region. The administrative centre is the village of Skei. Other villages in Surnadal include Glærem, Mo, Stangvik, Surnadalsøra, Sylte, Todalsø ...

. In 1909, when he was two years old, his family moved to

Vadsø Vadsø (; sme, Čáhcesuolu; fkv, Vesisaari) is a municipality in Troms og Finnmark County, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Vadsø, which was the administrative centre of the former Finnmark county. O ...

, and then moved again to Bodø in 1919. In 1927, after spending some time in Horten, Espolin Johnson relocated to

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 ...

, where he studied 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 (''Kunsthøgskolen i Oslo'', KHiO). ...

and

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" ...

under

Axel Revold Axel Revold (24 December 1887 – 11 April 1962) was a Norwegian painter, illustrator, and art professor at the Norwegian National Academy of Fine Arts for twenty years. He was highly decorated for his merits. Personal life Revold was born in ...

and

Halfdan Strøm Halfdan Strøm (4 November 1863 – 28 March 1949) was a Norwegian painter and an early representative of realism in Norwegian painting. He attended the Royal Drawing School in Christiania (nor Oslo). In 1883, he debuted at the Industria ...

. There he developed a special layering and scraping technique using soot early on in almost exclusively black and white. He had poor eyesight, and this technique was very well suited for his limited vision. He debuted at the Autumn Exhibition in 1932 and soon started contributing illustrations to the magazine ''

Arbeidermagasinet ''Arbeidermagasinet'' was a Norwegian language, Norwegian weekly literary magazine established in 1927. It changed its name to ''Magasinet For Alle'' in 1953, and ceased publication in 1970. The magazine is especially noted for its literary quali ...

''. Espolin Johnson also illustrated many books, among which the first was ''Vett og uvett. Stubber fra Troms og Nordland'' (Sense and Nonsense: Short Stories from Troms and Nordland, 1942) by Einar Kristoffer Aas and Peter Wessel Zapffe. His motifs were based on northern Norwegian fishing life, and continued with motives from rural life to the south. Examples of this include his illustrations for

Sigbjørn Hølmebakk Sigbjørn Hølmebakk (2 February 1922 – 25 November 1981) was a Norwegian author. Biography Hølmebakk was born at Feda (now Kvinesdal) in Vest-Agder, Norway. His parents were Søren Adolf Svindland (1881–1966) and Inger Marie Abrahamsen M ...

's ''Fimbulvinter'' ( The Great Winter, 1964),

Regine Normann Regine Normann (29 July 1867 – 14 August 1939) was a Norwegian school teacher, novelist and story writer. Early life and education Serine Regine Normann was born at Bø in Nordland, Norway. She was the daughter of Mikkel Normann (1827– ...

's ''Ringelihorn og andre eventyr'' (Ringelihorn and Other Tales, 1967), and Johan Bojer's ''Den siste viking'' (The Last Viking, 1972). Espolin Johnson also decorated the Coastal Express vessel MS ''Harald Jarl'' (1960) with several motifs from

Petter Dass Petter Pettersen Dass (c. 1647 – 17 August 1707) was a Lutheran priest and the foremost Norwegian poet of his generation, writing both baroque hymns and topographical poetry. Biography He was born at Northern Herøy (Dønna), Nordland, No ...

's '' Nordlands Trompet''. These paintings were transferred to the new Coastal Express vessel MS ''Trollfjord'' when MS ''Harald Jarl'' was sold. In addition, he decorated the Kirkenes police station (in 1964), the county hospital in

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 1973), and the telegraph station in

Sandnessjøen Sandnessjøen is a town and the administrative centre of Alstahaug Municipality in Nordland county, Norway. Sandnessjøen was granted special trading privileges in the late 1600s and it received town status in 1999. Sandnessjøen is located ...

(in 1975). In an interview with

NRK NRK, an abbreviation of the Norwegian ''Norsk Rikskringkasting AS'', generally expressed in English as the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation, is the Norwegian government-owned radio and television public broadcasting company, and the largest ...

TV in connection with the opening of the Espolin Gallery in 1992, Espolin Johnson stated that, when he looked back at his artistic work, it was the illustrations for ''Vett og Uvett'' and Bojer's ''Den siste viking'' that gave him the most pleasure. He highlighted the Baroque humor in ''Vett og Uvett'' as one of the reasons why he had enjoyed that task in particular. Espolin Johnson received the Nordland County Culture Prize in 1990. He is represented in Norway's

National Museum of Art, Architecture and Design National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, c ...

by 39 of his artworks.

Literature

A biography of Espolin Johnson was written by

Arne Durban Arne Durban (16 June 1912 – 18 March 1993) was a Norwegian sculptor and art critic. He was born in Kristiania, and was a brother of Halvor Durban-Hansen. His works are represented in more than thirty cities in Norway. Among his works are sc ...

in 1979. In 1994, together with

Arthur Arntzen Arthur Arntzen may refer to: * Arthur Arntzen (politician) (1906–1997), Norwegian politician * Arthur Arntzen (humorist) (born 1937), Norwegian humorist {{hndis, Arntzen, Arthur ...

, Espolin Johnson coauthored the book ''Og langsomt kom lyset'' (And Slowly Came the Light), which discusses Northern Norway and its art, with 22 of his own works in focus. To mark the centenary of the birth of Espolin Johnson, in 2007

Pax Forlag Pax Forlag is a Norwegian publishing house, established in 1964. The first manager was Tor Bjerkmann, who chaired the company from 1964 to 1972. Starting with Bjerkmann's new translation of George Orwell's ''Animal Farm'', Pax published 150 qu ...

issued a new and expanded edition of Bjørn Tore Pedersen's volume ''Kaare Espolin Johnson – Lengselens billeddikter'' (Kaare Espolin Johnson: The Visual Poet of Longing).

Espolin Gallery

The Espolin Gallery ( no, Galleri Espolin) was established in 1992 in

Kabelvåg Kabelvåg is a village in Vågan Municipality in Nordland county, Norway. It is located on the southern shore of the island of Austvågøya in the Lofoten archipelago. Kabelvåg lies about to the southwest of the town of Svolvær, the adminis ...

in the municipality of

Vågan Vågan ( sme, Vuogát) is a municipality in Nordland county, Norway. It is part of the traditional district of Lofoten. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Svolvær. Some of the villages in Vågan include Digermulen, ...

, which received 40 to 50 of Espolin Johnson's works in 1983. The collection contains nearly 170 works.

Illustrations by Espolin Johnson

Books illustrated

* Einar K. Aas and Peter Wessel Zapffe: ''Vett og uvett''. 1942 (plus various new editions) *

Henrik Wergeland Henrik Arnold Thaulow Wergeland (17 June 1808 – 12 July 1845) was a Norwegian writer, most celebrated for his poetry but also a prolific playwright, polemicist, historian, and linguist. He is often described as a leading pioneer in the develop ...

: ''Vesle-Hans''. 1945 *

Hans Henrik Holm Hans Henrik Holm (18 January 1896 – 27 September 1980) was a Norwegian poet and folklorist. He made his literary début in 1933 with the epic poem ''Jonsoknatt'', the first in a series of seven volumes. His published the trilogy ''Bygdir i so ...

: ''Vårhelg i Gaukleikleiv''. 1947 (with

Tore Deinboll Tore Eckhoff Deinboll (July 12, 1910 – November 18, 1988) was a Norwegians, Norwegian artist, cartoonist, and illustrator. Deinboll was born in Oslo, the son of the patent attorney August Deinboll (1880–1975) and the teacher Anna Hermine Ec ...

) * Hans Henrik Holm: ''Fugl Føniks i eplehagen''. 1948 (with Tore Deinboll) *

Øivind Bolstad Øivind Bolstad (1 February 1905 – 7 May 1979) was a Norwegian playwright and novelist. Bolstad was born at Vardø in Finnmark, Norway. He made his literary breakthrough with the novel ''Den røde begonia'' from 1947. Bolstad published a numb ...

: ''Spøkefuglen på Toska''. 1955 *

: ''Fimbulvinteren''. 1964 * Olav Nordrå: ''Herr Petters trompet''. 1964 * Olav Nordrå: ''Jeg hilser jorden''. 1965 *

: ''Ringelihorn og andre eventyr''. 1967 * Ole Barman: ''Draumen og andre noveller''. 1968 * ''Den fyrste song. Antologi over norske voggesongar''. 1968 * Hans Johan Bjørnstad: ''Av lofotfiskerens saga''. 1970 * Roar Petersen: ''Sånn kan det gå''. 1970 * Johan Bojer: ''Den siste viking''. 1972 * Hans Johan Bjørnstad: ''Jeg kjente et land''. 1976 * ''Ut mot hav. Nordland fylkes fiskarlag''. 1977 * ''Før oss 1. Noveller fra eldre barnelitteratur'', with Sonja Hagemann. 1977 *

: ''Kaare Espolin Johnson''. 1979 * Hans Johan Bjørnstad: ''... men kirkesangeren var pennefør''. 1979 * ''Før og nå. Nynorsk litteratur fra Sivle til Sagen''. 1980 *

Peter Christen Asbjørnsen Peter Christen Asbjørnsen (15 January 18125 January 1885) was a Norwegian writer and scholar. He and Jørgen Engebretsen Moe were collectors of Norwegian folklore. They were so closely united in their lives' work that their folk tale collections ...

and

Jørgen Moe Jørgen Engebretsen Moe (22 April 1813–27 March 1882) was a Norwegian folklorist, bishop, poet, and author. He is best known for the '' Norske Folkeeventyr'', a collection of Norwegian folk tales which he edited in collaboration with Pe ...

: ''Det var en gang…'' 1981 * ''Lofotboka''. 1982 * ''I storm og stilla. Nordland fylkes fiskarlag''. 1982 * ''Barnas beste: i gamle dager''. 1983 * ''Skolp: årbok for Vågan''. 1984 * ''Ord for andre: antologi til inntekt for de sultrammede i Etiopia''. 1985 * Reidar Hirsti: ''Grenseløse mennesker''. 1987 * ''Pomorhandelen''. Einar Niemi (ed.) 1992 * ''Årbok for Vågan''. 1995 * Kaare Espolin Johnson: ''Grafikk''. 1997 * Kaare Espolin Johnson and

Arthur Arntzen Arthur Arntzen may refer to: * Arthur Arntzen (politician) (1906–1997), Norwegian politician * Arthur Arntzen (humorist) (born 1937), Norwegian humorist {{hndis, Arntzen, Arthur ...

: ''Og langsomt kom lyset''. 1994 * Kaare Espolin Johnson: ''Skisser og forelskelser''. 2002 * Bjørn Tore Pedersen: ''Lengselens billeddikter''. 2000 * Linda Lillevik: ''Eventyrlige Espolin: glimt fra et kunstnerliv''. 2007 * ''Å låne øyne å se med''. Aaslaug Vaa (ed.). 2007 * ''Vær hilset: Espolin i 100 år''. Wenche Thorunn Nilsen. (ed.). 2007

Cover illustrations

* Andreas Haukland: ''Landeveiens folk''. 1933 * Helge Holst: ''Huset på grensen''. 1933 *

Franz Kafka Franz Kafka (3 July 1883 – 3 June 1924) was a German-speaking Bohemian novelist and short-story writer, widely regarded as one of the major figures of 20th-century literature. His work fuses elements of realism and the fantastic. It ...

: ''Prosessen''. 1934 * Gisken Wildenway: ''Andrine og Kjell''. 1934 *

: ''De gyldne lenker''. 1934 * Sven Nilsen: ''Et menneske kommer til verden''. 1934 *

John Dos Passos John Roderigo Dos Passos (; January 14, 1896 – September 28, 1970) was an American novelist, most notable for his ''U.S.A.'' trilogy. Born in Chicago, Dos Passos graduated from Harvard College in 1916. He traveled widely as a young man, visit ...

: ''Cirkus Verdensteater''. 1934 *

Nils Johan Rud Nils Johan Rud (24 July 1908 – 7 June 1993) was a Norwegian novelist, writer of short stories, children's writer, and a magazine editor. He is particularly known for his long-term period as editor of the magazine ''Arbeidermagasinet'' / '' ...

: ''Så stjeler vi et fattighus''. 1934 * Herman Lundsrud: ''Vi som ikke er mennesker''. 1935 *

Bjørn Rongen Bjørn Rongen (24 July 1906 – 26 August 1983) was a Norwegian novelist and children's writer. He was born at Evanger in the Voss district of Hordaland, Norway. He lived in Drøbak most of his adult life. He made his literary debut in 1934 ...

: ''Nettenes natt''. 1940 * Leif Ytteren: ''Trollfjell''. 1944 * Stephen Wendt: ''Min elskede, husker du?'' 1951 * Seymour Shubin: ''Fienden i meg selv''. 1955 * Emil Boysen: ''Gjenkjennelse''. 1957 * ''Norge i nord''. Den norske turistforening. 1963 * Olav Nordrå: ''Guds ulver''. 1967 *

Alf Larsen Alf Larsen (22 July 1885 – 12 December 1967) was a Norwegian poet, essayist and magazine editor. Biography Larsen was born at Tjøme in Vestfold, Norway. he was the eldest of seven children born to Alfred Larsen (1859-1905) and Kristi ...

: ''Siste strofer''. 1969 * Johan Bojer: ''Folk ved sjøen''. 1977 * Johan Bojer: ''Vår egen stamme''. 1977 * Per Fugelli: ''Bruk av legemidler på Værøy og Røst''. 1978 * '' Lofotboka''. 1979 *

Arvid Hanssen Arvid Hanssen (28 July 1932 – 31 July 1998) was a Norwegian journalist, newspaper editor, poet, novelist and children's writer. Biography Hanssen was born in Vika at Indre Senja in Troms. He completed Finnsnes High School in 1948. He grad ...

: ''Søsken på Guds jord''. 1981 * Arvid Møller: ''Losen på Tranøy''. 1983 * Randi Folkestad: ''Tangsforretningen''. 1985 *

Liv Marie Austrem Liv Marie Austrem (born 30 January 1947) is a Norwegian novelist, children's writer and non-fiction writer. Among her children's books are ''Runar vart 17 år'' from 1988 and ''Monas historie'' from 1993. She was awarded the Brage Prize in 1995 f ...

: ''Gyda''. 1995 * Lars Hermansen: ''Exercise in Human Physiology''. 1986 *

Olav H. Hauge Olav Håkonson Hauge (18 August 1908 – 23 May 1994) was a Norwegian horticulturist, translator and poet. Biography Hauge was born at the village of Ulvik in Hordaland, Norway. His parents Håkon Hauge (1877-1954) and Katrina Hakestad (1873-19 ...

: ''Trust Your Life to Water and Eternity''. 1987 * Kjell Sandvik: ''Sang til Finnmark''. 1989. * ''Environmental Consequences of Deep Seabed Mining''. 1991 * ''Challenges of a Changing World''. 1991 * ''Proceedings from the Northern Sea Route Expert Meeting''. 1992 * Tore Skoglund: ''Draugen, hevneren fra havet''. 1992 * Per Fugelli: ''Doktor på Værøy og Røst''; ''Lege på Utrøst''. 2006

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Johnson, Kaare Espolin 20th-century Norwegian painters Norwegian illustrators People from Surnadal 1907 births 1994 deaths