''View from Stalheim'' ( no, Fra Stalheim) is an 1842

oil painting Oil painting is the process of painting with pigments with a medium of drying oil as the binder. It has been the most common technique for artistic painting on wood panel or canvas for several centuries, spreading from Europe to the rest of ...

Johan Christian Dahl Johan Christian Claussen Dahl (24 February 178814 October 1857), often known as or , was a Danish-Norwegian artist who is considered the first great romantic painter in Norway, the founder of the "golden age" of Norwegian painting, and, by some ...

of the mountainous view from Stalheim,

Voss Voss () is a municipality and a traditional district in Vestland county, Norway. The administrative center of the municipality is the village of Vossevangen. Other villages include Bolstadøyri, Borstrondi, Evanger, Kvitheim, Mjølfjell, ...

Hordaland Hordaland () was a county in Norway, bordering Sogn og Fjordane, Buskerud, Telemark, and Rogaland counties. Hordaland was the third largest county, after Akershus and Oslo, by population. The county government was the Hordaland County Munici ...

. It is a major work of Romantic nationalism and has become a national icon. It is regarded as one of Dahl's best works.

Description

The painting shows the view from the peak at Stalheim over the Nærøy Valley towards the

sugarloaf A sugarloaf was the usual form in which refined sugar was produced and sold until the late 19th century, when granulated and cube sugars were introduced. A tall cone with a rounded top was the end product of a process in which dark molasses, a r ...

-shaped peak of Jordalsnuten"Stalheim"
'' Store norske leksikon'', 14 February 2009, retrieved 23 October 2014 . in late afternoon sunshine, framed by peaks and a rainbow. The sun shines on a small village near the centre. Dahl has clearly delineated figures and buildings even in the distance, creating "a world in miniature".Torsten Gunnarsson, tr. Nancy Adler, ''Nordic Landscape Painting in the Nineteenth Century'', New Haven, Connecticut: Yale University, 1998, , pp. 90–94. One of his purposes was

realism Realism, Realistic, or Realists may refer to: In the arts *Realism (arts), the general attempt to depict subjects truthfully in different forms of the arts Arts movements related to realism include: *Classical Realism *Literary realism, a move ...

; the other was to capture the glory and magnificence of the mountains, and associated with that, of his country's culture.Susanne Wittekind, "Natur, Volk und Geschichte. Die künstlerische Konstruktion Norwegens in der Landschaftsmalerei Johan Christian Claussen Dahls (1788–1857)", in ''Die Lesbarkeit der Romantik: Material, Medium, Diskurs'', ed. Erich Kleinschmidt, Berlin: de Gruyter, 2009, pp. 309–335, p. 328 .Ronald G. Popperwell, ''Norway'', Nations of the modern world, New York: Prager, 1972,
p. 51
In this evocation of grandeur the painting prefigures later US landscapes, in particular

Church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship * C ...

's ''Rainy Season in the Tropics'' (1866), which has a similar crowning rainbow.Arne Neset, ''Arcadian Waters and Wanton Seas: The Iconology of Waterscapes in Nineteenth-Century Transatlantic Culture'', American University Studies Series XIX,, General Literature, 36, New York: Lang, 2009,
p. 58
The rainbow itself, a symbol of reconciliation, peace, and in Christianity of

God's grace Divine grace is a theological term present in many religions. It has been defined as the divine influence which operates in humans to regenerate and sanctify, to inspire virtuous impulses, and to impart strength to endure trial and resist temptat ...

,Åshild Brenne
"Historiske linjer"
Nye Meninger, ''

Dagsavisen ''Dagsavisen'' is a daily newspaper published in Oslo, Norway. The former party organ of the Norwegian Labour Party, the ties loosened over time from 1975 to 1999. It has borne several names, and was called ''Arbeiderbladet'' from 1923 to 1997. ...

'', 24 December 2010 . was also frequently used by

Joseph Anton Koch Joseph Anton Koch (27 July 1768 – 12 January 1839) was an Austrian painter of Neoclassicism and later the German Romantic movement; he is perhaps the most significant neoclassical landscape painter. Biography The Tyrolese painter was born i ...

and by Dahl's friend and associate Caspar David Friedrich.Susanne Wittekind, "Natur, Volk und Geschichte. Die künstlerische Konstruktion Norwegens in der Landschaftsmalerei Johan Christian Claussen Dahls (1788–;1857)", in ''Die Lesbarkeit der Romantik: Material, Medium, Diskurs'', ed. Erich Kleinschmidt, Berlin: de Gruyter, 2009, p. 326 .

History

Dahl began work on the painting in 1836 and completed it in 1842. It is based on two pencil and watercolour sketches he had made from the

Gudvangen Gudvangen is a village in Aurland Municipality in Vestland county, Norway. It is a popular tourist destination and is located at the end of the Nærøyfjord where the Nærøydalselvi river empties into the fjord. The European route E16 highway p ...

road in July 1826 during his first visit to the high mountain regions of Norway. The final version is close to the studies in both composition and details, including the sunlight highlighting the village; but Dahl has intensified the imagery by narrowing the valley, giving more prominence to the Jordalsnuten peak and less to the reappearance of the river from the shadows. Dahl had trouble with the painting and avoided similarly large works after its completion.Andreas Aubert, ''Den nordiske naturfølelse og professor Dahl: hans kunst og dens stilling i aarhundredets utvikling'', Christiania: Aschehoug, 1894,
pp. 151–52
.

Provenance

The painting was made for Countess Wedel of Bogstad. Carl Gustav Wedel-Jarlsberg gave it to the

National Gallery of Norway The National Gallery ( no, Nasjonalgalleriet) is a gallery in Oslo, Norway. Since 2003 it is administratively a part of the National Museum of Art, Architecture and Design. , the admission cost is 100 Norwegian kroner. History It was establish ...

in 1914.

Reception

The painting is regarded as one of Dahl's best,Carl G. Laurin, Emil Hannover and Jens Thiis
''Scandinavian Art''
Scandinavian monographs 5, New York: American-Scandinavian Foundation / London: Milford, 1922, , p. 443. perhaps his most successful realisation of his aim of depicting the mountains both realistically and as national symbols. It has become a national icon. Other painters have also depicted the scene, and even more than his other Norwegian landscapes, this one drove tourists to visit the site: the luxury hotel built at Stalheim in 1885 is attributable to it.

References

External links

High-resolution image
at

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{{Johan Christian Dahl 1842 paintings Landscape paintings Paintings by Johan Christian Dahl Paintings in the collection of the National Gallery (Norway)