The Vigeland Museum ( no, Vigelandmuseet) is a museum dedicated to
Gustav Vigeland
Gustav Vigeland (11 April 1869 – 12 March 1943), born as Adolf Gustav Thorsen, was a Norwegian sculptor. Gustav Vigeland occupies a special position among Norwegian sculptors, both in the power of his creative imagination and in his product ...
in
Frogner
Frogner is a residential and retail borough in the West End of Oslo, Norway, with a population of 59,269 as of 2020. In addition to the original Frogner, the borough incorporates Bygdøy, Uranienborg and Majorstuen. The borough is named after ...
,
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 ...
. It is located outside
Frogner Park
Frogner Park ( no, Frognerparken) is a public park located in the West End borough of Frogner in Oslo, Norway. The park is historically part of Frogner Manor, and the manor house is located in the south of the park, and houses Oslo Museum. Both ...
, which includes the Vigeland installation with sculptures by Gustav Vigeland. The museum is part of Oslo municipality's cultural department.
The museum is dedicated to Norway's most famous sculptor, Gustav Vigeland (1869–1943). The museum is Vigeland's former studio and residence. His urn and ashes are located in the tower of the museum. He designed his own bronze urn and burial monument, located above his apartment on the 2nd floor. The official web site for the museum is: https://vigeland.museum.no/en . The Vigeland Museum celebrate
Gustav Vigeland's 150th Year Anniversaryin 2019.
Until 2020 the museum used the spelling ''Vigeland-museet'' in Norwegian; the spelling was changed to ''Vigelandmuseet'' after a long period where people often spelled it Vigelandsmuseet (with s).
Exhibitions
Today, the museum shows a permanent exhibition presenting Vigeland's art and life, and temporary exhibitions with contemporary or historical three-dimensional art. The Vigeland Museum announce
tours in the apartmenton their web page. Tickets must be pre-booked.
How to get there?
The museum's address is Nobels gate (street) 32, just nearby th
Frogner Park The tram- and bus station Frogner Plass is actually closer to the Vigeland Museum than the station Frogner Park. The Vigeland Museum is a short walk from th
Frogner Park
Immediately north of the museum is the more famous
Vigeland Sculpture Park—which showcases Vigeland's larger statues and sculptures—and the
Frogner Park
Frogner Park ( no, Frognerparken) is a public park located in the West End borough of Frogner in Oslo, Norway. The park is historically part of Frogner Manor, and the manor house is located in the south of the park, and houses Oslo Museum. Both ...
. The highway
Ring 2
is a 1999 Japanese supernatural horror film, directed by Hideo Nakata and serves as a sequel to ''Ring''.
''Ring'' was originally a novel written by Koji Suzuki; its sequel, ''Rasen'' (a.k.a. ''Spiral''), was also adapted into a film as the se ...
runs nearby, and buses as well as
Oslo Tramway
The Oslo tram network ( no, Trikken i Oslo, short from ', 'electric') is the tram system in Oslo, Norway. It consists of six lines with 99 stops and has a daily ridership of 132,000. It is operated by , a subsidiary of the municipally-owned who ...
provide for public transportation. The museum is within reasonable walking distance of the stations
Frogner plass on the
Frogner Line
The Frogner Line ( no, Frognerlinjen) is a section of the Oslo Tramway which runs between Solli and Majorstuen, serving the neighborhood of Frogner. The line is served by tram number 12, and the Frogner section makes up the westernmost part of thi ...
, and, further away,
Nobels gate on the
Skøyen Line
The Skøyen Line ( no, Skøyenlinjen/''Skøyenlinja'') is a tram, tramway line running from Palace Park, Slottsparken to Skøyen in Oslo, Norway. It is served by line 13 of the Oslo Tramway. It connects the Briskeby Line at Slottsparken to the Lil ...
(the now-closed station
Halvdan Svartes gate was proximate as well).
The building
The building, which is one of Norway's foremost examples of neoclassical architecture, is designed by architect Lorentz Ree. Its history began in 1919, when sculptor
Gustav Vigeland
Gustav Vigeland (11 April 1869 – 12 March 1943), born as Adolf Gustav Thorsen, was a Norwegian sculptor. Gustav Vigeland occupies a special position among Norwegian sculptors, both in the power of his creative imagination and in his product ...
made an offer to
Oslo Municipality
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 ...
to donate his works sometime in the future. Vigeland's total body of works consisted not only of sculptures, but also
woodcut
Woodcut is a relief printing technique in printmaking. An artist carves an image into the surface of a block of wood—typically with gouges—leaving the printing parts level with the surface while removing the non-printing parts. Areas that ...
s, drawings, sketches and photographs as well as letters, other writings and a personal library. When a part of the city of Oslo where Gustav Vigeland lived and had his atelier was demolished due to city planning, an agreement between the artist and the City of Oslo came to be: Vigeland wanted an
atelier
An atelier () is the private workshop or studio of a professional artist in the fine or decorative arts or an architect, where a principal master and a number of assistants, students, and apprentices can work together producing fine art or v ...
. The atelier could be rebuilt as a museum after his death. Even Vigeland's flat on the third floor was preserved as a part of the museum.
The building of the would-be museum commenced in 1921, as soon as a contract between Vigeland and Oslo had been formalized. The architects were
Lorentz Harboe Ree
Lorentz Harboe Ree (12 March 1888– 8 March 1962) was a Norwegian architect.
Ree was born at Stange in Hedmark, Norway. He graduated from the Norwegian Institute of Technology in 1915. He first worked as an architectural assistant in Bergen (19 ...
and
Carl Buch, and the style was
neo-classic. In 1923, Vigeland moved in, one year before the middle part and northern wing were completed. The southern wing was completed in 1930. The atelier was used by both Vigeland and other artists.
[
Vigeland died in 1943, during the hard economic times of ]World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
. The building was open as a public museum in 1947,[ but the official opening was June 4, 1950. The opening was partially thanks to budget surplus from the municipal cinema company Oslo Kinematografer. The museum is still owned by Oslo municipality via its ]etat
(pl. ) is a Norwegian state, county or municipal agency. An is a subdivision of the administration which has been given responsibility for a special area. An agency does not have a board of directors, but it does have a director, appointed by th ...
of culture, and the current Museum Director is Jarle Strømodden.
Publications
Gustav Vigeland is surrounded by myth—some true, others not. The best source for official information about Gustav Vigeland is the Vigeland Museum.
Tone Wikborg:
Gustav Vigeland – A Biography
' (2001). Republished in English (and Norwegian) during the Vigeland 150th Anniversary in 2019.
Jarle Strømodden:
Vigeland & the Park
' (Orfeus Publishing 2019)
Guri Skuggen
Gustav Vigeland and his Contemporaries. Bourdelle. Maillol, Meunier, Rodin
(Skira 2019)
References
{{Coord, 59.92285, 10.70013, type:landmark_region:NO, display=title
Museums in Oslo
Museums established in 1947
Art museums and galleries in Norway
Biographical museums in Norway
1947 establishments in Norway
Museums devoted to one artist
Contemporary art galleries in Norway