''Winter at the Sognefjord'' (

Norwegian Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe *Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway *Demographics of Norway *The Norwegian language, including the ...

: ''Vinter ved Sognefjorden'') is a painting by the Norwegian artist

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 ...

from 1827. The picture is painted in oil on canvas and has the dimensions of 61.5 x 75.5 cm. The picture is part of the collection of the

National Museum of Art, Architecture and Design National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, ce ...

in Oslo, Norway.

Analysis

After a trip to Italy in 1820–1821, Johan Christian Dahl settled permanently in

Dresden Dresden (, ; Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label=Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city, after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth larg ...

. There he drew a number of ideal Norwegian landscapes. From 1826 on, there was a change in his work reflecting new understanding for Norwegian landscape. Then he took a trip through Norway from Christiania to

Telemark Telemark is a traditional region, a former county, and a current electoral district in southern Norway. In 2020, Telemark merged with the former county of Vestfold to form the county of Vestfold og Telemark. Telemark borders the traditional ...

and

Hardangervidda Hardangervidda ( en, Hardanger Plateau) is a mountain plateau (Norwegian: ''vidde'') in central southern Norway, covering parts of Vestland, Vestfold og Telemark, and Viken counties. It is the largest plateau of its kind in Europe, with a cold ye ...

to the

fjord In physical geography, a fjord or fiord () is a long, narrow inlet with steep sides or cliffs, created by a glacier. Fjords exist on the coasts of Alaska, Antarctica, British Columbia, Chile, Denmark, Germany, Greenland, the Faroe Islands, Ice ...

s of western Norway, his first trip to the mountains as a mature artist. The motive was first drafted as a drawing during the trip. Steep slopes and vertical rock are depicted in the foreground. This painting is a tribute to the majestic Norwegian nature and the proud history of the nation.

References

{{19C-painting-stub Paintings by Johan Christian Dahl 1827 paintings Paintings in the National Gallery (Norway) Romantic art Landscape paintings European art