Kristine (Kris) Torne née Laache (1867–1946) was a Norwegian painter and textile artist. In 1894, she was one of ten artists who participated in the

Vågåsommeren Vågåsommeren or the Vågå Summer was a Norwegian art colony, artists' collective which came together in Vågå, Innlandet County, in 1894. It consisted of ten painters, all of whom had spent the previous year studying art at Harriet Backer's sc ...

artists' colony in Vågå, Innlandet County. After painting landscapes and portraits, one of which won a prize at the

1900 Paris Exposition The Exposition Universelle of 1900, better known in English as the 1900 Paris Exposition, was a world's fair held in Paris, France, from 14 April to 12 November 1900, to celebrate the achievements of the past century and to accelerate developmen ...

, in 1906 she began creating embroidered works and rugs based on cartoons by her husband Oluf Wold-Torne.

Biography

Born on 1 February 1867, possibly Trondheim or Steinkjer, Christine Laache was the daughter of

Nils Jacob Laache Niels Jacob Jensen Laache (6 November 1831 – 5 February 1892) was a Norwegian revivalist, writer, and bishop. Laache was born in 1831 in Ullensaker, Norway. He received his theology degree in 1858 and became a priest in 1863. For the next 2 ...

(1831–1892), a priest and later bishop of Trondheim, and his wife Oline Andrine Nielsen (1835–1911). She was one of six children. In 1897, she married the painter Oluf Wold-Torne (1867–1919). In the 1890s, she studied under Eilif Peterssen and Harriet Backer and from 1899 to 1900, she was a student of Jens Ferdinand Willumsen in Copenhagen. RingerikeMalere1899

In 1894, Kris Laache spent the summer in Vågå together with a group of painters who were interested in advancing from the clear Realism of the times to a more atmospheric approach to painting with deeper colour and in a simpler style. In addition to Kristen Holbø who was a native of Vågå, they included Halfdan Egedius, Lars Jorde, Thorvald Erichsen, Alfred Hauge, Oluf Wold-Torne,

Alice Pihl Alice Dagny Pihl Salvesen (1869–1959) was a Norwegian painter. In 1894, she was one of ten artists who participated in the Vågåsommeren artists' colony in Vågå, Innlandet County. She was principally a portrait painter but also created mood ...

Johanna Bugge Berge Johanna Bugge Berge (1874–1961) was a Norwegian painter, illustrator and church decorator. In 1894, she was one of ten artists who participated in the Vågåsommeren artists' colony in Vågå, Innlandet County. After marrying Rikard Berge in 1 ...

and

Lalla Hvalstad Ragnhild (Lalla) Hvalstad (1875–1962) was a Norwegian painter and ceramist. In 1894, she was one of ten artists who participated in the Vågåsommeren artists' colony in Vågå, Innlandet, Innlandet County. After painting portraits, interiors an ...

. Now known as "Vågåsommeren" (the Vågå Summer), the event was a considerable success, resulting in several of the painters returning to Kristiania with mood paintings. That autun, together with Phil, Bugge Berge and Hvalstad, Laache established an association in Kristiania known as "Den dekorative forening" (The Decorative Society). After returning to Vågå in 1895, in 1897 Kris Torne painted in Kviteseid, Telemark, together with a group including Wold-Torne, whom she had just married, Hvalstad and Erichsen. Thanks to a series of grants, she was able to travel to France and Italy. At the 1900 Paris Exposition, her "Portrait of a Young Girl" received an award. Together with her husband, in 1904 she spent a year in Italy. She continued to paint portraits and landscapes for a number of years before turning to textile art. Working from her husband's cartoons, she embroidered decorative works and created rugs. In 1925, in an exhibition with the Artists Association (Kunstnerforbundet), she presented textile works and paintings she had created over the previous 25 years, including her self-portrait from 1899, her prize-winning Paris portrait, figure paintings from Italy and landscapes. Kris Torne died in Florence, Italy, on 24 April 1946.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Torne, Kris 1867 births 1946 deaths 19th-century Norwegian painters 19th-century Norwegian women artists 20th-century Norwegian painters Norwegian textile designers Women textile artists Norwegian women artists People from Steinkjer Norwegian women painters 20th-century women painters 19th-century women painters