Mathias Stoltenberg (21 July 1799 – 2 November 1871) was a Norwegian painter. He earned his living mostly as a travelling portrait painter and furniture restorer. His paintings were later rediscovered and presented at the

1914 Jubilee Exhibition The 1914 Jubilee Exhibition took place in Kristiania, Norway, from May 5 to October 11, 1914. It marked the centennial anniversary of the 1814 constitution and focused on industry and agriculture. The main location was the grounds of Frogner Manor ...

in Kristiania.

Personal life

Stoltenberg was born in Tønsberg, the son of merchant and politician

Carl Peter Stoltenberg Carl Peter Stoltenberg (28 January 1770 – 13 November 1830) was a Norwegian merchant, ship owner and politician. He was a representative at the Norwegian Constituent Assembly in Eidsvoll during 1814. Biography Carl Peter Stoltenberg was b ...

and Karen Mathea Bull. He lost his sense of hearing as a child, and died in poverty in Vang in 1871.

Career

Stoltenberg studied carpentry in Copenhagen, where he also took lessons in portrait painting with

Christian August Lorentzen Christian August Lorentzen (10 August 1749 – 8 May 1828) was a Danish painter. Early life and education Christian August Lorentzen was born in Sønderborg, Denmark. He was the son of Hans Peter Lorentzen and Maria Christina Hansdatter. His ...

. Back in Norway he earned his living as a travelling portrait painter and carpenter. After his father died in 1830, the family home in Tønsberg dissolved. Stoltenberg's travels covered large parts of Norway. During the 1830s and 1840s he visited Gudbrandsdalen, Dovre, the districts around Kristaniafjorden,

Northern Norway Northern Norway ( nb, Nord-Norge, , nn, Nord-Noreg; se, Davvi-Norga) is a geographical Regions of Norway, region of Norway, consisting of the two northernmost counties Nordland and Troms og Finnmark, in total about 35% of the Norwegian mainlan ...

, Trondheim, Numedal, Telemark and Østerdalen. From the late 1840s he lived in Vang, Hedmark. His paintings were mostly portraits, and also landscapes. His art was recognized after the

at Frogner in Kristiania, and he is represented in several museums. The National Gallery of Norway has fifteen of his portraits and three landscape paintings, among them ''Utsikt til Vang kirke'' (View of Vang church) from 1863. Stoltenberg-Strømsø med den gamle kirke på Tangen

Stoltenberg-Strømsø med den gamle kirke på Tangen

Stoltenberg's paintings were first described by

Hans Ødegaard Hans Ødegaard (30 May 1876 – 1 March 1943) was a Norwegian painter. Biography He was born in Norderhov. He studied painting and drawing with Brynjulf Bergslien. He was a student of Fredrik Kolstø the year 1897-1898 and Knud Bergslien ...

in 1914, in ''Norske malere. Mathias Stoltenberg og Lars Hertervig''.Malmanger 1993: p. 348 Ødegaard was responsible for the exhibition of older Norwegian art at the 1914 Jubilee Exhibition. In addition to Stoltenberg,

Lars Hertervig Lars Hertervig (16 February 1830 – 6 January 1902) was a Norwegian painter. His semi-fantastical work with motives from the coastal landscape in the traditional district of Ryfylke is regarded as one of the peaks of Norwegian painting. Life an ...

, Johannes Flintoe and Peder Balke were other more or less forgotten painters who found their way into museums and galleries after this exhibition. Henrik Grevenor wrote a biography of Stoltenberg in 1935, ''Mathias Stoltenberg. En kunstner mellom to tidsaldre'' (Mathias Stoltenberg. An artist between two epochs).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stoltenberg, Mathias 1799 births 1871 deaths People from Tønsberg 19th-century Norwegian painters 19th-century male artists Mathias