Halfdan Egedius (May 5, 1877 – February 2, 1899) was 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 and illustrator.

Biography

Halfdan Johnsen Egedius was born in

Drammen Drammen () is a city and municipality in Viken, Norway. The port and river city of Drammen is centrally located in the south-eastern and most populated part of Norway. Drammen municipality also includes smaller towns and villages such as Konne ...

in Buskerud county and grew up in Christiania (now

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 ...

). His interest in painting and illustration began at the age of 5 and he showed exceptional artistic abilities early. He attended art school from the age of 9 at the school of art of Knud Bergslien, where he was a pupil from 1886 to 1889. In 1891 he was a pupil of

Erik Werenskiold Erik Theodor Werenskiold (11 February 1855 – 23 November 1938) was a Norwegian painter and illustrator. He is especially known for his drawings for the Asbjørnsen and Moe collection of '' Norske Folkeeventyr'', and his illustrations for ...

, and from 1891 to 1892 he studied at the Arts and Crafts School in Christiania. In 1894 he attended the

Harriet Backer Harriet Backer (21 January 1845 – 25 March 1932) was a Norwegian painter who achieved recognition in her own time and was a pioneer among female artists both in the Nordic countries and in Europe generally. She is best known for her detailed ...

art school. During spring 1896, he was a student of Kristian Zahrtmann in

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...

. From the age of 15 he began painting the landscape of

Telemark Telemark is a traditional region, a former county, and a current electoral district in southern Norway. In 2020, Telemark merged with the former county of Vestfold to form the county of Vestfold og Telemark. Telemark borders the traditional ...

. Professionally known as Halfdan Johnsen Egedius, he was active from the age of 16 until his premature death at the age of 21. In his short life he managed to create several Norwegian masterpieces in a variety of styles. He is best known for his illustrations of the ''

Heimskringla ''Heimskringla'' () is the best known of the Old Norse kings' sagas. It was written in Old Norse in Iceland by the poet and historian Snorre Sturlason (1178/79–1241) 1230. The name ''Heimskringla'' was first used in the 17th century, derive ...

'' in a style inspired by Werenskiold.Egedius. North. December 4, 2005
/ref> Egedius became ill during a summer stay in

in 1898, and after relapsing before Christmas, was hospitalized in Christiania, where he died in February 1899, not yet 22 years old. The cause of death was

actinomycosis Actinomycosis is a rare infectious bacterial disease caused by ''Actinomyces'' species. The name refers to ray-like appearance of the organisms in the granules. About 70% of infections are due to either '' Actinomyces israelii'' or '' A. gerencser ...

, a bacterial infection that attacked the internal organs. He was buried in the churchyard at

Vestre Aker Vestre Aker (Western Aker) is a borough of the city of Oslo, Norway. It has a population of 50,157 as of 2020. The previous Aker Municipality was merged into the city of Oslo in 1948. The borough of Vestre Aker was organized as part of the 1 Ja ...

. Fifty years after his death, a memorial stone was erected.

Gallery

File:Halfdan Egedius - Portrait of Mari Clasen - Google Art Project.jpg, ''Portrait of Mari Clasen'' (oil on canvas, 1895) Image:Olav den helliges saga - Olav og Rane i viking - H. Egedius.jpg , Illustration for ''St. Olaf's Saga'', ''

'' (1897) Image:Magnus den godes saga - Magnus og Kalv Arnesson Stiklestad - H. Egedius.jpg, Illustration for ''Saga of Magnus the Good'', ''Heimskringla'' (1898) Image:Olav Tryggvasons saga - Eriks menn entrer Ormen lange - Halfdan Egedius.jpg , Illustration for ''Saga of Olaf Tryggvason'', ''Heimskringla'' (1897) Image:Olav den helliges saga - Kong Olavs fall - H. Egedius.jpg, Illustration for ''St. Olaf's Saga'', ''Heimskringla'' (1899). Image:Sverdrups skuffelse - Egedius.jpg, Illustration for Fridtjof Nansen's ''Fram over Polhavet: den norske polarfærd 1893-1896'' (1897) File:Halfdan Egedius - Soir d'été.jpg, ''Summer's Eve'' (1893) File:Egedius Halfdan Vågå 1894-crop.png, ''Fra Vågå'' (1894)

References

Sources

* Walther Halvorsen. ''Halfdan Egedius''. Gyldendal 1914 * Øistein Parmann. ''Halfdan Egedius: liv og verk''. Dreyer, Oslo, 1990.

External links

* *
MyNDIR (My Norse Digital Image repository)
illustrations by Halfdan Egedius from Kongesagaer. Clicking on the thumbnail will give you the full image and information concerning it. {{DEFAULTSORT:Egedius, Halfdan 1877 births 1899 deaths People from Drammen Norwegian illustrators Deaths from actinomycosis 19th-century Norwegian painters 19th-century male artists