The Queen Sonja Art Stable (
Norwegian:'' Dronning Sonja KunstStall'') is a museum, art gallery and concert hall located in the former stables of the
Royal Palace in
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 ...
.
History
The stable building, located close to
the palace park, was constructed simultaneously as the
Royal Palace and was completed in 1849. Originally, the stables could house 38 horses, but the compound was considerably expanded and improved during the reign of King
Haakon VII, and his equestrian wife
Queen Maud. Between 1905 and 1911, the stables were built into an equestrian facility with a
riding hall
A riding hall, indoor arena, indoor school (UK English), or indoor ring (US English) is a building (part of an equestrian facility) that is specially designed for indoor horse riding. Smaller, private buildings contain only space for riding, whi ...
, blacksmith and a veterinary area. Architect
Hjalmar Welhaven
Hjalmar Welhaven (26 December 1850 – 18 April 1922) was a Norwegian architect, palace manager, and sportsman.
Biography
Personal life
Welhaven was born in Christiania (now Oslo), Norway. He was the son of writer Johan Sebastian Welhaven ...
led the expansion project while Queen Maud took the initiative to model the improved stable hall after the
Royal Mews
The Royal Mews is a mews, or collection of equestrian stables, of the British Royal Family. In London these stables and stable-hands' quarters have occupied two main sites in turn, being located at first on the north side of Charing Cross, a ...
in London.
Renovations and current use
Horses have not been kept in the stables since 1940 and after the end of the
German occupation of Norway
The occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany during the Second World War began on 9 April 1940 after Operation Weserübung. Conventional armed resistance to the German invasion ended on 10 June 1940, and Nazi Germany controlled Norway until th ...
during the Second World War the building was mostly used as a storage facility and garage.
King Harald decided to renovate the building as a present to his wife
Queen Sonja
Sonja (born Sonja Haraldsen on 4 July 1937) is Queen of Norway since 17 January 1991 as the wife of King Harald V.
Sonja and the then Crown Prince Harald had dated for nine years prior to their marriage in 1968. They had kept their relation ...
on her 80th birthday celebration in 2017. The renovations were made with the combined efforts of
Statsbygg,
Riksantikvatren and
Snøhetta.
The Art Stable will be open from March through December each year and function as a venue for exhibitions of art well as presentations on historical and cultural items from the ''Norwegian Royal Collections''.
Exhibitions. 2017-
* "Opening exhibition" an extensive collection of graphic prints gifted by Norwegian artists.
* “The Royal Stable. Horses and their equipage 1905–1940.”
* "Sculpture", an exhibition by
Kjell Erik Killi Olsen.
* "Tone Vigeland: Jewelry and Sculpture"
* "Tradition and Inspiration". An exhibition of Norwegian folk art and
folk costumes
A folk costume (also regional costume, national costume, traditional garment, or traditional regalia) expresses an identity through costume, which is usually associated with a geographic area or a period of time in history. It can also indic ...
, including pieces owned by members of the
Royal Family
A royal family is the immediate family of kings/queens, emirs/emiras, sultans/ sultanas, or raja/ rani and sometimes their extended family. The term imperial family appropriately describes the family of an emperor or empress, and the term pa ...
.
* "History". An exhibition of three generations of
Sami
Acronyms
* SAMI, ''Synchronized Accessible Media Interchange'', a closed-captioning format developed by Microsoft
* Saudi Arabian Military Industries, a government-owned defence company
* South African Malaria Initiative, a virtual expertise ...
artists: Iver Jök, Synnøve Persen, and Britta Markatt-Labba.
* "The Dream of Norway: King Haakon and Queen Maud in the Royal Collections".
See also
*
Royal Palace
*
Norwegian royal family
References
External links
The Queen Sonja Art StableThe Queen Sonja Art Stable
visitoslo.com
{{coord, 59.9163, 10.7235, region:NO-30, display=title
Museums in Oslo
1849 establishments in Norway
Houses completed in 1849
The Royal Palace
History of Oslo
Buildings and structures in Oslo