The National Gallery ( no, Nasjonalgalleriet) is a gallery 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 ...

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of ...

. Since 2003 it is administratively a part 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, c ...

. , the admission cost is 100

Norwegian krone The krone (, abbreviation: kr (also NKr for distinction); code: NOK), plural ''kroner'', is currency of the Kingdom of Norway (including Svalbard). Traditionally known as the Norwegian crown in English. It is nominally subdivided into 100 ...

History

It was established in 1842 following a

parliamentary A parliamentary system, or parliamentarian democracy, is a system of democratic governance of a state (or subordinate entity) where the executive derives its democratic legitimacy from its ability to command the support ("confidence") of the ...

decision from 1836. Originally located in the

Royal Palace, Oslo The Royal Palace ( no, Slottet or ''Det kongelige slott'') in Oslo was built in the first half of the 19th century as the Norwegian residence of the French-born King Charles III John, who reigned as king of Norway and Sweden. The palace is the ...

, it got its own museum building in 1882, designed by Heinrich Ernst and Adolf Schirmer. Former names of the museum include ''Den norske stats sentralmuseum for billedkunst'' and from 1903 to 1920 ''Statens Kunstmuseum''. Directors include

Jens Thiis Jens Thiis (12 May 1870 – 27 June 1942) was a Norwegian art historian, conservator and a prominent museum director. He was conservator at the Nordenfjeld Industrial Arts Museum (''Nordenfjeldske Kunstindustrimuseum'') in Trondheim beginnin ...

(1908–1941), Sigurd Willoch (1946–1973), Knut Berg (1975–1995), Tone Skedsmo (1995–2000) and Anniken Thue (2001–2003). That the gallery had erroneously been labeled as technically unfit for paintings was reported in 2013. (A previous study—about the museums—''tåleevne'') had never concluded about the fitness level, and

Norway's parliament The Storting ( no, Stortinget ) (lit. the Great Thing) is the supreme legislature of Norway, established in 1814 by the Constitution of Norway. It is located in Oslo. The unicameral parliament has 169 members and is elected every four years base ...

had been misinformed about conclusions that in reality did not exist. ) In 2016 the price for admission doubled overnight.

Collection

The Gallery includes pieces by sculptor

Julius Middelthun Julius Olavus Middelthun (3 July 1820 – 5 May 1886) was a Norwegian sculptor and educator. He is most associated with his busts and statues. Biography Middelthun was born at Kongsberg in Buskerud, Norway. He was the son of Georg Middelthun (1 ...

,Laurin, Hannover, Thiis, ''Scandinavian Art", Benjamin Blom, New York, 1968 p. 622 painters

Johan Christian Claussen 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 ...

Erik Werenskiold Erik Theodor Werenskiold (11 February 1855 – 23 November 1938) was a Norwegian painter and illustrator. He is especially known for his drawings for the Asbjørnsen and Moe collection of '' Norske Folkeeventyr'', and his illustrations for ...

and

Christian Krohg Christian Krohg (13 August 1852 – 16 October 1925) was a Norwegian naturalist painter, illustrator, author and journalist. Krohg was inspired by the realism art movement and often chose motifs from everyday life. He was the director and s ...

as well as works by

Edvard Munch Edvard Munch ( , ; 12 December 1863 – 23 January 1944) was a Norwegian painter. His best known work, '' The Scream'' (1893), has become one of Western art's most iconic images. His childhood was overshadowed by illness, bereavement and the d ...

including ''

The Scream ''The Scream'' is a composition created by Norwegian artist Edvard Munch in 1893. The agonized face in the painting has become one of the most iconic images of art, seen as symbolizing the anxiety of the human condition. Munch's work, including ...

'' and one version of his ''

Madonna Madonna Louise Ciccone (; ; born August 16, 1958) is an American singer-songwriter and actress. Widely dubbed the " Queen of Pop", Madonna has been noted for her continual reinvention and versatility in music production, songwriting, a ...

''. The museum also has old master European paintings by painters such as

El Greco Domḗnikos Theotokópoulos ( el, Δομήνικος Θεοτοκόπουλος ; 1 October 1541 7 April 1614), most widely known as El Greco ("The Greek"), was a Greek painter, sculptor and architect of the Spanish Renaissance. "El ...

Lucas Cranach the Elder Lucas Cranach the Elder (german: Lucas Cranach der Ältere ; – 16 October 1553) was a German Renaissance painter and printmaker in woodcut and engraving. He was court painter to the Electors of Saxony for most of his career, and is kno ...

(''Golden Age''),

Gaulli Giovanni Battista Gaulli (8 May 1639 – 2 April 1709), also known as Baciccio or Baciccia (Genoese nicknames for ''Giovanni Battista''), was an Italian artist working in the High Baroque and early Rococo periods. He is best known for his grand ...

(''Sacrifice of Noah''),

Orazio Gentileschi Orazio Lomi Gentileschi (1563–1639) was an Italian painter. Born in Tuscany, he began his career in Rome, painting in a Mannerist style, much of his work consisting of painting the figures within the decorative schemes of other artists. After ...

Artemisia Gentileschi Artemisia Lomi or Artemisia Gentileschi (, ; 8 July 1593) was an Italian Baroque painter. Gentileschi is considered among the most accomplished seventeenth-century artists, initially working in the style of Caravaggio. She was producing profess ...

Andrea Locatelli Andrea Locatelli (19 December 1695 – 19 February 1741)Michel, Olivier (2003). "Locatelli, Andrea". Grove Art Online. was an Italian painter of landscapes (vedute). Locatelli (he spelled it Lucatelli) was born in Rome in 1695, as stat ...

(''Bachannal Scene''),

Pieter Elinga Pieter Janssens Elinga (1623–1682) was a Dutch Golden Age painter, mainly of domestic interior scenes with a strong emphasis on the rectangular geometrical elements of windows, floor tiling paintings, and other elements, and a few genre figures ...

(''Letter Carrier''),

Ferdinand Bol Ferdinand Bol (24 June 1616 – 24 August 1680) was a Dutch painter, etcher and draftsman. Although his surviving work is rare, it displays Rembrandt's influence; like his master, Bol favored historical subjects, portraits, numerous self-port ...

, Daniel De Blieck (''Church Interior''),

Jacob van der Ulft Jacob van der Ulft (; 1621–1689) was a Dutch painter, glass painter, print artist, architect and mayor. He was known for his architectural and city views, landscapes and topographical views.Cornelis Bisschop Cornelis Bisschop (12 February 1630 – 21 January 1674), was a Dutch Golden Age painter. Biography In ca. 1650 he was a student of Ferdinand Bol in Amsterdam. In 1653 he was back in Dordrecht, where he got married. According to Houbraken he ...

(''Seamstress'') and

Jan van Goyen Jan Josephszoon van Goyen (; 13 January 1596 – 27 April 1656) was a Dutch landscape painter. The scope of his landscape subjects was very broad as he painted forest landscapesm marines, river landscapes, beach scenes, winter landscape, cityscap ...

. There are also 19th and 20th Century International paintings by

Armand Guillaumin Armand Guillaumin (; February 16, 1841 – June 26, 1927) was a French impressionist painter and lithographer. Biography Early years Born Jean-Baptiste Armand Guillaumin in Paris, he worked at his uncle's lingerie shop while attending even ...

, Carl Sohn,

Auguste Renoir Pierre-Auguste Renoir (; 25 February 1841 – 3 December 1919) was a French artist who was a leading painter in the development of the Impressionist style. As a celebrator of beauty and especially feminine sensuality, it has been said that "Re ...

Claude Monet Oscar-Claude Monet (, , ; 14 November 1840 – 5 December 1926) was a French painter and founder of impressionist painting who is seen as a key precursor to modernism, especially in his attempts to paint nature as he perceived it. During ...

(''Rainy Day, Etretat''),

Paul Cézanne Paul Cézanne ( , , ; ; 19 January 1839 – 22 October 1906) was a French artist and Post-Impressionist painter whose work laid the foundations of the transition from the 19th-century conception of artistic endeavour to a new and radically d ...

, and

Pablo Picasso Pablo Ruiz Picasso (25 October 1881 – 8 April 1973) was a Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist and Scenic design, theatre designer who spent most of his adult life in France. One of the most influential artists of the 20th ce ...

. There are also Norwegian paintings by

Adolph Tidemand Adolph Tidemand (14 August 18148 August 1876) was a noted Norwegian romantic nationalism painter. Among his best known paintings are ''Haugianerne'' (''The Haugeans''; 1852) and '' Brudeferd i Hardanger'' (''The Bridal Procession in Hardanger'' ...

Hans Gude Hans Fredrik Gude (March 13, 1825August 17, 1903) was a Norwegian romanticist painter and is considered along with Johan Christian Dahl to be one of Norway's foremost landscape painters. He has been called a mainstay of Norwegian National Roma ...

Harriet Backer Harriet Backer (21 January 1845 – 25 March 1932) was a Norwegian painter who achieved recognition in her own time and was a pioneer among female artists both in the Nordic countries and in Europe generally. She is best known for her detailed ...

, and

Lars Jorde Lars Jorde (22 May 1865 – 25 September 1939) was a Norwegian painter and illustrator. Biography He was born at Vang in Hedmark, Norway. He entered the Norwegian National Academy of Craft and Art Industry in 1889. He studied under Gerhard Mun ...

Architecture

The museum collection will be moved to a new building, opening in 11 June 2022 and gathering all sections of the National Gallery, except architecture. The architect of the new building, which will be located on the harbor front, and part of the Fjordbyen development, is the German firm Kleihues + Kleihues ( de).

References

{{coord, 59.9162, 10.7375, type:landmark_region:NO, display=title 1842 establishments in Norway Art museums established in 1842 Art museums and galleries in Norway Museums in Oslo