Jonsborg Tapistry Saw mill Oslo Town Hall

Jonsborg Tapistry display Oslo Town Hall 06

Kåre Mikkelsen Jonsborg (11 January 1912 – 10 July 1977) was a Norwegian

painter Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called the "matrix" or "support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and ai ...

and

textile artist Textile arts are arts and crafts that use plant, animal, or synthetic fibers to construct practical or decorative objects. Textiles have been a fundamental part of human life since the beginning of civilization. The methods and materials u ...

Background

Kåre Jonsborg was born at Kristiania (now Oslo), Norway. He was the son of John Andreas Mikkelsen (1873-1944) and Anne Elise Ebbell (1884-1950). At five years of age, his family moved to

Solør Solør is a Norwegian traditional district consisting of the valley between Elverum in the north and Kongsvinger in the south. It is part of Innlandet county and it includes the municipalities Våler, Åsnes, and Grue. Glomma valley Glommadal ...

, where his father worked as an artsmith. He studied 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 ...

Jean Heiberg Jean Hjalmar Dahl Heiberg (19 December 1884 – 27 May 1976) was a Norwegian painter, sculptor, designer and art professor. Personal life Heiberg was born in Kristiania (now Oslo), Norway. He was the son of Hjalmar Heiberg (1837–97) and Jea ...

and

Georg Jacobsen Georg Jacobsen (17 September 1887 – 14 February 1976) was a Danish painter. Jacobsen studied under Viggo Johansen at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts in Copenhagen from 1906 to 1911. He later spent time in Paris, from 1919 to 1935, a ...

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 The Oslo National Academy of the A ...

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 ...

from 1933-38. From 1965 until his death in 1977, he was employed by 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" ...

Career

Jonsborg debuted at the Autumn Exhibition (''Høstutstillingen'') in Oslo during 1935. Three years later he won the 3rd prize in the competition for decoration in Oslo City Hall. His works span from

oil An oil is any nonpolar chemical substance that is composed primarily of hydrocarbons and is hydrophobic (does not mix with water) & lipophilic (mixes with other oils). Oils are usually flammable and surface active. Most oils are unsaturated ...

tempera Tempera (), also known as egg tempera, is a permanent, fast-drying painting medium consisting of colored pigments mixed with a water-soluble binder medium, usually glutinous material such as egg yolk. Tempera also refers to the paintings done ...

, woodcutting and through to stone

mosaic A mosaic is a pattern or image made of small regular or irregular pieces of colored stone, glass or ceramic, held in place by plaster/mortar, and covering a surface. Mosaics are often used as floor and wall decoration, and were particularly pop ...

s. He created a number of altar pieces among others in

Svalbard Church Svalbard Church ( no, Svalbard kirke) is a parish church of the Church of Norway in Svalbard municipality in Norway. It is located in the village of Longyearbyen. It is the church for the Svalbard parish which is part of the Tromsø domprosti (a ...

and Tonsen Church in Oslo. He also created a vast production of figurative paintings and tapestry designs including at

Steinkjer Church Steinkjer Church ( no, Steinkjer kirke) is a parish church of the Church of Norway in Steinkjer municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. It is located in the town of Steinkjer. It is the church for the Steinkjer parish which is part of the Sti ...

. For many years he had a fruitful partnership with textile artist

Else Halling Else Halling (3 July 1899 – 14 February 1987) was a Norwegian textile artist. She is known for her reconstructions of old Norwegian tapestry, and taught weaving in Trondheim, Drammen and Oslo. She decorated public institutions such as the Roya ...

(1899-1987), aiming to find a useful range of plant dyes for dying wool from spelsau. The cooperation resulted in significant achievements including designs for monumental tapestries in

Oslo City Hall Oslo City Hall ( no, Oslo rådhus) is a municipal building in Oslo, the capital of Norway. It houses the city council, the city's administration and various other municipal organisations. The building as it stands today was constructed between ...

(woven by

). In his art he was dedicated to geometrical theories of how to build and compose pictures, of the art and colour theories of

Piero della Francesca Piero della Francesca (, also , ; – 12 October 1492), originally named Piero di Benedetto, was an Italian painter of the Early Renaissance. To contemporaries he was also known as a mathematician and geometer. Nowadays Piero della Francesca i ...

Paul Cézanne Paul Cézanne ( , , ; ; 19 January 1839 – 22 October 1906) was a French artist and Post-Impressionism, Post-Impressionist painter whose work laid the foundations of the transition from the 19th-century conception of artistic endeavour to a ...

Pablo Picasso Pablo Ruiz Picasso (25 October 1881 – 8 April 1973) was a Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist and Scenic design, theatre designer who spent most of his adult life in France. One of the most influential artists of the 20th ce ...

Eugène Delacroix Ferdinand Victor Eugène Delacroix ( , ; 26 April 1798 – 13 August 1863) was a French Romantic artist regarded from the outset of his career as the leader of the French Romantic school.Noon, Patrick, et al., ''Crossing the Channel: Britis ...

. All his life he studied the old masters and travelled in Europe and collected a vast documentation of the masters' composition techniques. He was an invited participant at the international biennale, "Biennale internationale de tapisserie" in the

Cantonal Museum of Fine Arts The Cantonal Museum of Fine Arts (french: Musée cantonal des Beaux-Arts, MCBA) is an art museum in Lausanne, Switzerland. Collection The museum was created by private initiative in 1841, with funds provided by the artist Marc-Louis Arlaud, who ...

Lausanne , neighboring_municipalities= Bottens, Bretigny-sur-Morrens, Chavannes-près-Renens, Cheseaux-sur-Lausanne, Crissier, Cugy, Écublens, Épalinges, Évian-les-Bains (FR-74), Froideville, Jouxtens-Mézery, Le Mont-sur-Lausanne, Lugrin (FR-74), ...

and is discussed in the work of Pierre Verlet-Michel Florisone and Adolf Hoffmeister-Francois Tabard: ''Le grand livre de la tapisserie'' (Paris: Bibliothèque des arts, 1965). He was awarded a number of distinctions including Schlytters og Mohrs legat (1939), Statens reisestipend (1952) and Thomas Fearnleys Minnestipend (1955). He is represented in

the National Gallery The National Gallery is an art museum in Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, in Central London, England. Founded in 1824, it houses a collection of over 2,300 paintings dating from the mid-13th century to 1900. The current Director of ...

in Oslo and was awarded the

King's Medal of Merit The King's Medal of Merit (Norwegian: ''Kongens fortjenstmedalje'') is a Norwegian award. It was instituted in 1908 to reward meritorious achievements in the fields of art, science, business, and public service. It is divided in two classes: gold ...

(''Kongens fortjenstmedalje'').

References

Other Sources

*Waadeland, Ruth (2008
''Kunstneren Kåre Mikkelsen Jonsborg: jakobineren fra de store skoger''
(Trondheim : Tapir akademisk forl) {{DEFAULTSORT:Jonsborg, Kaare 1912 births 1977 deaths People from Grue, Norway 20th-century Norwegian painters Norwegian tapestry artists Norwegian woodcarvers Oslo National Academy of the Arts alumni Academic staff of the Oslo National Academy of the Arts Recipients of the King's Medal of Merit