Anders Castus Svarstad (22 May 1869 – 22 August 1943) was a Norwegian painter, most frequently associated with his urban landscapes.

Career

Anders Castus Svarstad was born at Lille Svarstad in

Hole A hole is an opening in or through a particular medium, usually a solid Body (physics), body. Holes occur through natural and artificial processes, and may be useful for various purposes, or may represent a problem needing to be addressed in m ...

, in Ringerike. He was a pupil at the

Norwegian National Academy of Craft and Art Industry The National College of Art and Design () was established in 1818. In 1996, the National College of Art and Design became part of Oslo National Academy of the Arts (''Kunsthøgskolen i Oslo'', KHiO), along with the Norwegian National Academy of ...

Kristiania Oslo ( or ; ) 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 of 1,064,235 in 2022, an ...

(now Oslo) from 1886 to 1889 and worked for a time as decorative paints, including time spent in

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

at the

World's Columbian Exposition The World's Columbian Exposition, also known as the Chicago World's Fair, was a world's fair held in Chicago from May 5 to October 31, 1893, to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus's arrival in the New World in 1492. The ...

(1892–94). He studied in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

and the following year with

Laurits Tuxen Laurits Regner Tuxen (9 December 1853 – 21 November 1927) was a Danish painter and sculptor specialising in figure painting. He was also associated with the Skagen Painters. He was the first head of Kunstnernes Frie Studieskoler, an art sc ...

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a population of 1.4 million in the Urban area of Copenhagen, urban area. The city is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager, separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the ...

(1897-1898). At the end of the 1890s, he was a student at the

Académie Colarossi The Académie Colarossi (1870–1930) was an art school in Paris founded in 1870 by the Italian model and sculptor Filippo Colarossi. It was originally located on the Île de la Cité, and it moved in 1879 to 10 rue de la Grande-Chaumière in the ...

. He made the debut of his paintings at the Autumn Exhibition in Kristiania in 1902. After the debut, he competed regularly at art exhibitions, but supported himself and his family still also through decorative painting. Until approximately 1907, he balanced his career between being an artist and a decorative painter. Svarstad undertook numerous journeys abroad, during which urban scenes captivated his attention. His art began incorporating elements of the modern era, such as telephone wires, gas tanks, and factory chimneys, reflecting his fascination with these developments. Together with fellow artist

Søren Onsager Søren Onsager (6 October 1878 – 28 November 1946) was a Norwegian painter. Onsager was born at Holmestrand in Vestfold, Norway. His parents were Martin Onsager (1849–1926) and Laura Dorothea Christensen (1858–1934). His father operated ph ...

he ran an art school from 1926 to 1929. He was also an art critic and sat on the Council of the

National Gallery of Norway The National Gallery () is a gallery in Oslo, Norway. Since 2003 it is administratively a part of the National Museum of Art, Architecture and Design. History It was established in 1842 following a parliamentary decision from 1836. Originally lo ...

and Artist House and as director of Oslo Art Society. He is represented in the

and the Bergen Kunstmuseum with portraits, city scapes and

still life A still life (: still lifes) is a work of art depicting mostly wikt:inanimate, inanimate subject matter, typically commonplace objects which are either natural (food, flowers, dead animals, plants, rocks, shells, etc.) or artificiality, human-m ...

Personal life

He was married twice. In 1904, he married Ragna Moe (1882-1963). The marriage was dissolved in 1912. He was married to

Nobel Prize The Nobel Prizes ( ; ; ) are awards administered by the Nobel Foundation and granted in accordance with the principle of "for the greatest benefit to humankind". The prizes were first awarded in 1901, marking the fifth anniversary of Alfred N ...

winning Norwegian novelist

Sigrid Undset Sigrid Undset (; 20 May 1882 – 10 June 1949) was a Danish people, Danish-born Norwegian people, Norwegian novelist. She was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature, Nobel Prize for Literature in 1928 Nobel Prize in Literature, 1928. Born in Den ...

from 1912 until the marriage was dissolved in 1927.

Gallery

Anders Svarstad - Gateparti - 1922 - Oslo Museum - OB.01231.jpg, ''Street View in Oslo'' (1922) Anders Svarstad - Grunnstensnedleggelsen til Rådhuset - 1931 - Oslo Museum - OB.08015.jpg, ''Foundation Ceremony at the City Hall'' (1931) Anders Svarstad - Hammersborg - 1912 - Oslo Museum - OB.01213.jpg , ''

Hammersborg St. Hanshaugen (Norwegian for St. John's Hill) is a borough of the city of Oslo, Norway. Area It has a triangular shape, with its northern border just north of the buildings of the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation and Ullevål University Hosp ...

'' (1912) 'Street in Bruges' by Anders Svarstad, Bergen Kunstmuseum.JPG, ''Street in

Bruges Bruges ( , ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the province of West Flanders, in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is in the northwest of the country, and is the sixth most populous city in the country. The area of the whole city amoun ...

'' (1910)

Selected works

* ''Fra Akerselven'', 1908–12, Drammens Museum *''Palonetto Santa Lucia'', 1909, Bergen Art Museum * ''Parti fra La Morgue'', 1910, National Gallery of Norway * ''Sigrid Undset'', 1911, Bergen Art Museum * ''Fabrikker ved Themsen'', 1912, Bergen Art Museum * ''Sigrid Undset'', 1912, Den norske forfatterforening, Oslo * ''Terrasse i Roma'', 1913, National Gallery of Norway * ''Via Bocca di Leone'', 1908, Bergen Kunstmuseum

References

1869 births 1943 deaths 19th-century Norwegian painters 20th-century Norwegian painters Norwegian male painters People from Hole, Norway Norwegian expatriates in France Académie Colarossi alumni 19th-century Norwegian male artists 20th-century Norwegian male artists {{Norway-painter-stub