BERGSLIEN KUNSTMUSEUM
Bergslien Kunstmuseum (Bergslien Art Museum)is an organisation foundedtoestablishan art museum dedicated to the works of artists Knud Bergslien and Brynjulf Bergslienin their hometown of Voss, Western Norway.Theinstitution will showcase the works of the two artists and aims to highlight their position in Norwegian art history.
KnudLarsenBergslien(1827–1908) was a painter who, from 1849 to1852, studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp under Laurentius Dyckmann.BrynjulfLarsenBergslien(1830–1898),brother of the former, was a sculptor who studied at theRoyal Danish Academy of Fine Arts in Copenhagen in the 1850s, where he worked with J.A. Jerichau and H.W. Bissen.
Both artists were interested in Nordic mythology and historyas well as folk-life traditionsand were central to Norwegian cultural life in the second half of the 19th century. Despite this, only a few of their works are currentlyon showin Norwegian museums today.
The Nordic Institute of Art collaborates with Bergslien Kunstmuseum to establish a permanent institution that aims to widen the knowledge of and scholarship on Knud Bergslien and Brynjulf Bergslien, while further contributing to our understanding of Scandinavian art and history in the 19th century.
In parallel tothis project, Voss Sparebank Kunstsamling (Voss Bank Art Collection) is building an important collection focused on the two artists, including Knud Bergslien’s iconic painting “Birkebeinerne (Skiing Birchlegs Crossing the Mountain with the Royal Child)” (1869), which was unveiled at the inaugural Bergslien Seminar on August the 30th 2024.
Knud Bergslien, Birkebeinerne (1869),
Bergslien Kunstmuseum/Voss Sparebank Kunstsamling
Photo: Morten Henden Aamot