ADELSTEEN NORMANN IN A NEW LIGHT
A Collaboration with Nordnorsk Kunstmuseum
To highlight Adelsteen Normann’s artistic work, the exhibition ‘Impressionist of the North’ will be organised as part of the ongoing collaboration between the Nordic Institute of Art (NIA) and Nordnorsk Kunstmuseum (NNKM – Northern Norway Art Museum), taking place at the museum’s new location in Bodø in autumn 2025.
Eilert Adelsteen Normann (1848–1918) was born on Vågøya in Bodin (today part of Bodø municipality). After initial studies in Copenhagen, he pursued an artistic career, moving to Düsseldorf in 1870 to study at the Academy of Art. Normann became known for his coastal landscapes of Northern and Western Norway, though he also painted urban scenes. By 1887, he had settled in Berlin and gained international recognition. As one of the first professional painters from Northern Norway, Normann played a key role in bringing his home region’s landscapes to a European audience.
Recent scholarship, including that of Anne Aaserud (1942–2017), places Normann’s work within emerging early modernist movements such as Realism, Impressionism, and Post-Impressionism. Normann was aligned with progressive artists of his time and played a pivotal role in Edvard Munch’s career, ensuring his controversial 1892 exhibition in Berlin, which led to Munch’s international breakthrough and eventually the establishment of the Berlin Secession.
Adelsteen Normann: Impressionist of the North will offer new perspectives on Normann’s oeuvre, placing him in a broader art historical context. In conjunction with the exhibition, a seminar featuring relevant and international viewpoints on Adelsteen Normann's work will take place.
The exhibition, curated by NIA’s Dr. Knut Ljøgodt, will feature some 50 of Normann’s paintings as well as a series of his drawings. A selection of works by his contemporaries will also be included, to contextualise his oeuvre.
The core part of the exhibition will be drawn from Nordnorsk Kunstmuseum's major collection of Normann’s work. The artist is further represented in several other museums and collections in Norway and internationally, including Adelsteen Normann Stiftelsen (the Adelsteen Normann Foundation), Bodø; and SpareBank1 Nord-Norges kunststiftelse, Tromsø; as well as the National Museum, Oslo, and KODE, Bergen.
Eilert Adelsteen Normann, Kystlandskap med båter (date unknown), Nordnorsk Kunstmuseum. Photo: Nordnorsk Kunstmuseum