Ellen Nordan Lund Iden (January 24, 1897 – November 12, 1961) was a Norwegian painter known for her landscapes, pictures of flowers, interior paintings, and portraits using finely tuned coloring.Anny B. Fremmerlid
''Store norske leksikon'': Ellen Nordan Lund Iden.
/ref>

Biography

Ellen Nordan Lund Iden was born in

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), the daughter of

Major Major most commonly refers to: * Major (rank), a military rank * Academic major, an academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits * People named Major, including given names, surnames, nicknames * Major and minor in musi ...

Ivar Johannessen Lund (1861–1936) and the painter Jacobine Nordan Lund (1867–1941).Sonja Hagemann
''Norsk kunstnerleksikon'': Ellen Nordan Lund Iden.
/ref> She studied under

Othon Friesz Achille-Émile Othon Friesz (6 February 1879 – 10 January 1949), who later called himself Othon Friesz, a native of Le Havre, was a French artist of the Fauvist movement. Biography Othon Friesz was born in Le Havre, the son of a long line of ...

at the former ''

Académie Moderne The Académie Moderne was a free art school in Paris. It was founded by Fernand Léger and Amédée Ozenfant in 1924. The school attracted students from Europe and America. Both Léger and Ozenfant taught there, along with Aleksandra Ekster, Ott ...

'' in Paris in 1920, and then at the

Norwegian National Academy of Fine Arts The Norwegian National Academy of Arts () was a former Norwegian tertiary institution in Oslo, offering studies in the area of fine art. Along with four other academies, it merged to form the Oslo National Academy of the Arts (, KHiO) in 1996. ...

under

Axel Revold Axel Revold (24 December 1887 – 11 April 1962) was a Norwegian painter, illustrator, and art professor at the Norwegian National Academy of Fine Arts for twenty years. He was highly decorated for his merits. Personal life Revold was bo ...

from 1931 to 1932. She also studied under Leon Aurdal. She married the sculptor Johannes Iden in 1938, who died in the sinking of the M/S ''Ronda'' one year later. Her first solo exhibition coincided with a memorial exhibition for him, held at the Artists' Association Gallery () in 1943. She achieved a major breakthrough in 1955 with a solo exhibition at the Oslo Art Association Gallery (). The exhibition was a traveling exhibition that was shown in several cities, and it received much attention in the press. Ellen Iden served as the first head of the Rogaland Art School (), which was established as a workshop for those wishing to enter 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 ...

. During her active years as an artist, she took part in a number of exhibitions. She exhibited twelve times at the Autumn Exhibition (the last time posthumously in 1962). Her paintings ''Studie av Gertrud'' (A Study of Gertrud, 1960), ''Kobberfjellet'' (Copper Mountain, 1954–1955), and ''Bergknaus etter regn'' (Hilltop after the Rain, 1960) were purchased by the National Museum of Art, Architecture, and Design. The painting ''Oldemors blomster'' (Great-Grandmother's Flowers) was purchased by the Stavanger Art Gallery (). In 1946, Iden purchased a summer home in

Holmsund Holmsund is a Urban areas in Sweden, locality situated in Umeå Municipality, Västerbotten County, Sweden with 5,489 inhabitants in 2010. It is located 18 km south of the city of Umeå and serves as a port for Umeå. Position Holmsund lies ...

near

Flosta Flosta is a List of former municipalities of Norway, former municipality in the old Aust-Agder Counties of Norway, county in Norway. The municipality existed from 1902 until its dissolution in 1962. It is currently part of the municipality of Ar ...

in the municipality of

Arendal Arendal () is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Agder counties of Norway, county in southeastern Norway. Arendal belongs to the Districts of Norway, region of Southern Norway, Sørlandet. The administrative centre of the munici ...

. Iden was part of an artists' colony that developed in the postwar years in Flosta. Together with others, including Ivar Jerven,

Kjerstin Øvrelid Kjerstin Marie Øvrelid (March 16, 1929 – January 1989) was a Norwegian painter. She was known for her poetic paintings of flowers and depictions of the sea and skerries, usually those seen from Holmesund, northeast of Arendal, where she had her ...

, Knut Monrad,

Finn Strømsted Finn Strømsted (9 June 1925 – 4 July 2003) was a Norwegian poet and visual artist. He made his literary debut in 1956 with the poetry collection ''Angelicafløyten''. Among his other collections are ''Bidevind'' from 1961, ''Susquehanna Blue ...

, Bodil Cappelen, Finn Henrik Bodvin, and Liv Nergaard, an artistic environment was created that drew inspiration from nature and the

skerries A skerry is a small rocky island, usually defined to be too small for habitation. Skerry, skerries, or The Skerries may also refer to: Geography Northern Ireland *Skerries, County Armagh, a List of townlands in County Armagh#S, townland in Coun ...

. A number of her landscape motifs draw upon this background. In a letter to

Agnes Hiorth Agnes Hiorth (5 May 1899 – 30 November 1984) was a Norwegian painter. Her art was characterized by impressionistic broad brush and harmoniously palette of landscapes, as well as a wide range of cultivated and accurate portraits. Biography Ag ...

from her summer home in Holmesund, she wrote the following: Southern Norway Exhibition () catalog, 1975. Ellen Nordan Lund Iden died in Oslo.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Iden, Ellen 1897 births 1961 deaths 20th-century Norwegian painters Artists from Oslo Norwegian landscape painters Flower artists 20th-century Norwegian women painters