LE MONT GROVANIPA PEINT PAR NIKOLAÏ ASTRUP

 

 

 

NIKOLAÏ ASTRUP (1880-1928)

Grovanipa (1,000 m) 

Norvège 

 

In " The Moon in May ", ca.1908 ,Color woodcut with hand coloring on paper, 19 x 25.4 cm

La montagne
Le mont Grovanipa (1, 000m) est une montagne située en Norvège dans la municipalité de Jølster et la province de Sogn og Fjordane Fylke, dans la partie sud-ouest du pays, à 290 km au nord-ouest d'Oslo, la capitale du pays. Le relief  autour de Grovanipa est montagneux au nord-ouest, mais au sud-est, il est plutôt vallonnée. C'est une région très peu densément peuplée avec environ 15 personnes par kilomètre carré.  La grande ville la plus proche est Skei, à 5,0 km au nord de Grovanipa. La région est célèbre pour ses paysages a couper le souffle, sa glace, ses collines et ses chutes d'eau.

Le peintre
Nikolaï Astrup était un peintre norvégien né à Bremanger dans le Nordfjord, Il a étudié le dessin et la peinture à Oslo où il était étudiant à l'école de peinture populaire de Harriet Backer. Il a ensuite vécu un certain temps à Paris et en Allemagne avant de retourner à Jølster. Il s'y est marié et a eu 8 enfants. Il fut toujours  pauvre et il lutta contre une mauvaise santé. Il  est mort d'une pneumonie en 1928 à l'âge de 47 ans. Astrup préférait les couleurs claires et fortes et ses paysages avaient généralement pour sujet principal son environnement immédiat à Jølster, autour de son lac, ses montagnes  et son fjord. Il s'est appliqué à promouvoir  « un  langage visuel national qui évoquait les traditions et le folklore de sa patrie ». Ses peintures décrivent une interaction intime entre la nature et l'environnement bâti, caractérisée par des lignes audacieuses et des couleurs riches. Astrup est souvent qualifié de peintre néo-romantique et il est considéré comme l'un des plus grands artistes norvégiens du début des années 1900  Ses œuvres ont été comparées à celles de son contemporain Edvard Munch, bien que son style ait été  "plus brillant - pas seulement en couleurs, mais aussi en humeur".
Très connu en Norvège, Astrup l'est peu dans le reste du monde. La première exposition de son travail en dehors de la Norvège a eut lieu à la Dulwich Picture Gallery de Londres en mai 2016. L'exposition présenta plus de 90 peintures à l'huile et estampes, y compris des œuvres de collections privées jamais exposées auparavant. 

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2023 - Wandering Vertexes ....
Errant au-dessus des Sommets Silencieux...
Un blog de Francis Rousseau

RONDSLOTTET PAINTED BY NIKOLAI ASTRUP

NIKOLAI ASTRUP  (1880-1928)

Rondslotett (2,178m - 7,146ft) 

Norway

In Vinternatt  Rondslottet, oil on canvas

The mountain 

Rondslottet (2,178m - 7,146ft)  is the highest mountain in the Rondane mountain range and is also the highest mountain in the county Hedmark. The landscapes of Rondane are well known to have inspired the work Peer Gynt (1867), a play by Henrik Ibsen, and a opera by Edvard Grieg which is partly set in Rondane. Rondane is the finite plural of the word rond. Several mountains in the area have the ending-ronden (Digerronden, Høgronden, Midtronden, Storronden and Vinjeronden), and this is the finite singular of the same word. The word rond was probably originally the name of the long and narrow lake Rondvatnet ('Rond water/lake') - and the mountains around were then named after this lake. For the meaning see under Randsfjorden.

Rondane National Park (Norwegian: Rondane nasjonalpark) is the oldest national park in Norway, established on 21 December 1962.  The park contains ten peaks above 2,000 metres (6,560 ft), with the highest being Rondeslottet at an altitude (see above). The park is an important habitat for herds of wild reindeer. The park was extended in 2003, and now covers an area of 963 km2 (372 sq mi) in the counties Oppland and Hedmark. Rondane lies just to the east of Gudbrandsdal and two other mountain areas, Dovre and Jotunheimen are nearby.

Visitors to Rondane are free to hike and camp in all areas of the park, except in the immediate vicinity of cabins. Apart from being closed for motor traffic, not many special regulations apply. Fishing and hunting is available to licensees. The Norwegian Mountain Touring Association (DNT) is an association that owns and manages a network of mountain cabins in the service of hikers. In Rondane, there is a central cabin by the southern end of the lake Rondvatnet, Rondvassbu. There is also Dørålseter and Bjørnhollia at the northern and eastern rims of the park. All three cabins are manned, and provide food and limited accommodation. There are also un-manned cabins in the Park, like Eldåbu where a key is needed. The service cabins are also open during the winter season, although they are sometimes only self-serviced off season. Ski trails are marked and sometimes prepared, either by DNT or some of the hotels and skiing resorts close to the park.

The painter 
Nikolai Astrup was a Norwegian painter born in Bremanger in Nordfjord, but grew up in Ålhus in Jølster where his father worked as a priest.  Nikolai studied  drawing and painting subjects in Oslo where he was a student at Harriet Backer's popular school of painting.
He later lived for a while in Paris and in Germany before returning to Jølster. He got married there and had 8 children. The economy was very tight and he struggled with poor health. Astrup died of pneumonia in 1928 at the age of 47.
Astrup preferred clear, strong colors and usually made landscape art depicting his surroundings in Jølster. Having spent the majority of his life in Jølster, the Nordic landscape proved a strong influence and through his paintings he sought 'a national "visual language" that evoked the traditions and folklore of his homeland'. His paintings describe an intimate interaction between nature and the built environment, characterized by bold lines and distinctive rich color. Astrup is regarded as a neo-romantic painter, but he also worked with woodcuts. He is looked upon as one of the greatest Norwegian artists from the early 1900s ; several of his paintings have been sold at auctions for approximately $500,000 USD. Astrup's works have been likened to those of his contemporary Edvard Munch, though Astrup's style has been described as being 'so much brighter – not just in colour, but also in mood'.
Although well known in Norway, Astrup is little-known in the rest of the world. The first exhibition of his work outside of Norway is taking place at Dulwich Picture Gallery, London from 5 February - 15 May 2016. The exhibition will display over 90 oil paintings and prints, including works from private collections never exhibited before.

2017 - Wandering Vertexes...
by Francis Rousseau