page_title: Norwegian art
section_title: The beginnings
hierarchical_section_title: Norwegian art / The beginnings
caption_attribution_description: Haugianerne
context_page_description: For much of its history Norwegian art is usually considered as part of the wider Nordic art of Scandinavia. It has, especially since about 1100, been strongly influenced by wider trends in European art. After World War II, the influence of the United States strengthened substantially. Due to generous art subsidies, contemporary Norwegian art has a high production per capita.
  Though usually not especially a major centre for art production or exporter of art, Norway has been relatively successful in keeping its art; in particular, the relatively mild nature of the Norwegian Reformation, and the lack of subsequent extensive rebuilding and redecoration of churches, has meant that with other Scandinavian countries, Norway has unusually rich survivals of medieval church paintings and fittings. One period when Nordic art exerted a strong influence over the rest of northern Europe was in Viking art, and there are many survivals, both in stone monuments left untouched around the countryside, and objects excavated in modern times.
context_section_description: Johan Christian Dahl (1788–1857) is often said to be the "father of Norwegian landscape painting". After a period in Copenhagen, he joined the Dresden school to which he made an important contribution. He eventually returned to paint the landscapes of western Norway, defining Norwegian painting for the first time.
  Another important early contributor was Johannes Flintoe (1787–1870), a Danish-Norwegian painter, known for his Norwegian landscapes and paintings of folk costumes. He taught at the School of Drawing (Tegneskolen) in Christiania from 1819 to 1851 where his students included budding romanticists such as Hans Gude and Johan F. Eckersberg.
  Adolph Tidemand (1814–1876) studied in  Copenhagen, in Italy and finally in Düsseldorf where he settled. He often returned to Norway where he painted the old Norwegian farm culture. His best known painting is The bridal procession in Hardanger (together with Hans Gude, 1848) and Haugianerne (Haugeans) painted in 1852.
  Norway’s new-found independence from Denmark encouraged painters to develop their Norwegian identity, especially with landscape painting by artists such as Kitty Kielland, 1843–1914, an early female painter who studied under Gude and  Harriet Backer, 1845–1932, another pioneer among female artists, influenced by impressionism.
caption: Adolph Tidemand's Haugianerne (Haugeans). 1852
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