Rolf Dagfinn Groven (born March 11, 1943) is a

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 ...

painter, known for his satirical art painted in figurative style. Groven's paintings are frequently printed works of art in textbooks used in Norwegian schools, as well as history books.

Biography

Groven was born in

Romsdal Romsdal is a Districts of Norway, traditional district in the Norwegian county Møre og Romsdal, located between Nordmøre and Sunnmøre. The district of Romsdal comprises Aukra, Fræna, Midsund, Molde, Nesset, Rauma, Norway, Rauma, Sandøy, and V ...

near

Molde Molde () is a town and List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Møre og Romsdal Counties of Norway, county, Norway. It is located in the Traditional districts of Norway, traditional district of Romsdal. It is located on the Romsdal Pen ...

during the Second World War, and trained as an architect at the

Norwegian Institute of Technology The Norwegian Institute of Technology (Norwegian: ''Norges tekniske høgskole'', NTH) was a science institute in Trondheim, Norway. It was established in 1910, and existed as an independent technical university for 58 years, after which it was m ...

(NTH, now a part of NTNU) 1966–72. His participation in the radical

Anti-Vietnam War Opposition to United States involvement in the Vietnam War (before) or anti-Vietnam War movement (present) began with demonstrations in 1965 against the escalating role of the United States in the Vietnam War and grew into a broad social move ...

movement convinced him that he should choose an artistic career. He lives 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 ...

Common themes

There have been several common themes in his art, ranging from environmentalism, to the European Union, as well as the peace movement and politics. Frequent motifs are religion and scenes from the

and

Lofoten Lofoten () is an archipelago and a traditional district in the county of Nordland, Norway. Lofoten has distinctive scenery with dramatic mountains and peaks, open sea and sheltered bays, beaches and untouched lands. There are two towns, Svolv� ...

areas of Norway. Among his environmentally themed works, Groven created several works in the 1970s that propagated the nature conservation. Much of his artwork commented on the fear that the Norway's newly-won status as a petroleum-producing country would lead to excessive pollution. He also commented on the dangers of nuclear power and he agitated for the preservation of waterfalls.Site Inspection
/ref> His politically charged works include

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been ...

, for which Norway has held two referendums about joining. The paintings
Norwegian Neo Romanticism
' from 1972 and
Free Flow
' from 1992 were among the best-known symbols of the popular anti EU-accession movement before these referendums. Groven has also commented on American President Donald Trump's 2016 victory. Groven's art is influenced by painters such as

Rembrandt van Rijn Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn (, ; 15 July 1606 – 4 October 1669), usually simply known as Rembrandt, was a Dutch Golden Age painter, printmaker and draughtsman. An innovative and prolific master in three media, he is generally consi ...

Käthe Kollwitz Käthe Kollwitz ( born as Schmidt; 8 July 1867 – 22 April 1945) was a German artist who worked with painting, printmaking (including etching, lithography and woodcuts) and sculpture. Her most famous art cycles, including ''The Weavers'' and '' ...

, as well as Norwegian artists such as

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 ...

, J.C. Dahl,

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 ...

and the contemporary

caricaturist A caricaturist is an artist who specializes in drawing caricatures. List of caricaturists * Abed Abdi (born 1942) * Al Hirschfeld (1903–2003) * Alex Gard (1900–1948) * Alexander Saroukhan (1898–1977) * Alfred Grévin (1827–1892) * ...

Finn Graff.

Selected works

* 197
Norwegian Neo Romanticism
(a.k.a. '' Willoch and Bratteli''). * 197
Liberty Leading the People
Parody of Eugène Delacroix's

Liberty Leading the People ''Liberty Leading the People'' (french: La Liberté guidant le peuple ) is a painting by Eugène Delacroix commemorating the July Revolution of 1830, which toppled King Charles X. A woman of the people with a Phrygian cap personifying the conc ...

with a female

Viet Cong , , war = the Vietnam War , image = FNL Flag.svg , caption = The flag of the Viet Cong, adopted in 1960, is a variation on the flag of North Vietnam. Sometimes the lower stripe was green. , active ...

soldier personifying Liberty. * 1975
Oil Painting
. Parody of one of Norway's best-known paintings from the 19th century Tidemand and Gude: ''Bridal Party in Hardanger'', 1848 * 197
The nuclear power kid
50,000 reproductions of this poster were printed in the 70s and 80s. * 197
West coast girl gutting fish
(''Vestlandsjente''). Acquired by the National gallery of Norway. * 198
Retribution
Showing a Palestinian crucified as Christ and

Menachem Begin Menachem Begin ( ''Menaḥem Begin'' (); pl, Menachem Begin (Polish documents, 1931–1937); ''Menakhem Volfovich Begin''; 16 August 1913 – 9 March 1992) was an Israeli politician, founder of Likud and the sixth Prime Minister of Israel. ...

as a Christ-killer. * 199
Women by church
* 200
Molde as combat zone
Historical recreation of wartime events April 29, 1940.

External links

Website displaying 110 works
(Text in Norwegian)
Artists CV
(Text in Norwegian) * Stephanie Haas
Can Art Influence Political Policy on the Environment? A Case Study Examining Rolf Groven's Eco-Art
(Master thesis, PDF)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Groven, Rolf 1943 births Living people 20th-century Norwegian painters Norwegian male painters 21st-century Norwegian painters 20th-century Norwegian male artists 21st-century Norwegian male artists