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 produc ...

in Frogner,

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. Bot ...

, 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 Anniversary
in 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 apartment
on 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 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. Bot ...

—which showcases Vigeland's larger statues and sculptures—and the

. The highway Ring 2 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 tramway line running from 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 Lilleaker Line at ...

(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

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 o ...

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 tha ...

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 ...

. 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 (1 ...

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 World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. 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 ...

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) The Vigeland Museum in Oslo

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