Erik Theodor Werenskiold (11 February 1855 – 23 November 1938) was a Norwegian

painter Painting is a Visual arts, visual art, which is characterized by the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called "matrix" or "Support (art), support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with ...

and

illustrator An illustrator is an artist who specializes in enhancing writing or elucidating concepts by providing a visual representation that corresponds to the content of the associated text or idea. The illustration may be intended to clarify complicate ...

. He is especially known for his drawings for the Asbjørnsen and Moe collection of '' Norske Folkeeventyr'', and his

illustration An illustration is a decoration, interpretation, or visual explanation of a text, concept, or process, designed for integration in print and digitally published media, such as posters, flyers, magazines, books, teaching materials, animations, vi ...

s for the Norwegian edition of the Snorri Sturlason ''

Heimskringla () is the best known of the Old Norse kings' sagas. It was written in Old Norse in Iceland. While authorship of ''Heimskringla'' is nowhere attributed, some scholars assume it is written by the Icelandic poet and historian Snorri Sturluson (117 ...

''.

Background

Erik Theodor Werenskiold was born in

Eidskog Eidskog is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the Traditional districts of Norway, traditional district of Vinger. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Skotter ...

, at Granli gaard, southeast of

Kongsvinger Kongsvinger () is a municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Glåmdal. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Kongsvinger. Other settlements in the municipality include Aust ...

Hedmark Hedmark () was a Counties of Norway, county in Norway from 1 January 1919 to 31 December 2019, bordering Trøndelag to the north, Oppland to the west, Akershus to the south, and Sweden to the east. The county administration is in Hamar. Hedmar ...

county,

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

. He lived his first four years there with his family, until they moved to Kongsvinger. Werenskiold grew up in Kongsvinger Fortress as the fourth son of the commander. He attended the Kongsvinger national school and then in the three years 1869-72 was at the privately owned Latin school operated by Harald Aars and Peter Voss (''Aars og Voss' skole'') in Christiania. Based on advice from the painter Adolph Tidemand, he attended a college for painters. During 1873, he was a pupil of Norwegian sculptor, Julius Middelthun (1820–1886), at the Drawing School in Christiania (''Tegneskolen i Kristiania''). He studied for a short time at the studio of artist, Axel Ender in the autumn of 1875.

Career

He went to

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

where he stayed for four years. His meeting with the French plein air painting, particularly

Charles-François Daubigny Charles-François Daubigny ( , , ; 15 February 181719 February 1878) was a French painter, one of the members of the Barbizon school, and is considered an important precursor of impressionism. He was also a prolific printmaker, mostly in etching ...

, at a French art show in Munich in 1879, convinced Werenskiold of its superiority over the German studio painting. In the spring of 1880, Werenskiold was paralyzed in the right arm. After half a year of hospitalization and recreation in Switzerland at Oberbayern and

Tyrol Tyrol ( ; historically the Tyrole; ; ) is a historical region in the Alps of Northern Italy and western Austria. The area was historically the core of the County of Tyrol, part of the Holy Roman Empire, Austrian Empire and Austria-Hungary, f ...

, he finally regained his health. From 1881 to 1883 he lived 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 ...

. In 1883, Werenskiold returned to Norway where he spent the summers in

Telemark Telemark () is a Counties of Norway, county and a current electoral district in Norway. Telemark borders the counties of Vestfold, Buskerud, Vestland, Rogaland and Agder. In 2020, Telemark merged with the county of Vestfold to form the county o ...

. He returned to France in 1884–1885 and studied with

Léon Bonnat Léon Joseph Florentin Bonnat (; 20 June 1833 – 8 September 1922) was a French painter, Grand Officer of the Légion d'honneur, art collector and professor at the Ecole des Beaux Arts. Early life Bonnat was born in Bayonne, but from 1846 to 1853 ...

(1888–89). In the spring of 1895 he made a study trip to

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

and

Florence Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025. Florence ...

. He made several paintings of peasants in landscapes. Illustrations for Norwegian fairy tales had interested him since his time in Munich, and he now got the opportunity to illustrate Norwegian fairy tales together with Theodor Kittelsen. He illustrated ''Norwegian folktales'' (''Norske Folkeeventyr'') in 1879 and continued with ''Adventure Tales for Children'' (''Eventyrbog for Børn. Norske Folkeeventyr'') by Asbjørnsen and Moe in three volumes during the period 1882–1887. Werenskiold illustrated a new edition of ''King's Sagas'' (''kongesagae'') from Snorre Sturlason and ''The Family at Gilje'' (''Familjen paa Gilje'') (1903) by Jonas Lie. His wide range of characterized portraits make up an entire pantheon of famous Norwegians from his lifetime. Werenskiold received the Norwegian national artist's salary from 1908. He was appointed Knight of the Royal Norwegian Order of St. Olav in 1890, Commander 1905, Commander of the 1st class of 1930 and the Grand Cross 1935. He was also Commander of the

Order of the Dannebrog The Order of the Dannebrog () is a Denmark, Danish order of chivalry instituted in 1671 by Christian V of Denmark, Christian V. Until 1808, membership in the Order was limited to fifty members of noble or royal rank, who formed a single cla ...

. He died at

Bærum Bærum () is a list of municipalities of Norway, municipality in the Greater Oslo Region in Akershus County, Norway. It forms an affluent suburb of Oslo on the west coast of the city. Bærum is Norway's fifth largest municipality with a populatio ...

, in

Akershus Akershus () is a county in Norway, with Oslo as its administrative centre, though Oslo is not located within Akershus. Akershus has been a region in Eastern Norway with Oslo as its main city since the Middle Ages, and is named after the Akers ...

county, Norway. He was buried at Vår Frelsers gravlund in

Oslo 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 ...

Personal life

He was married to the painter Sophie Marie Stoltenberg Thomesen (1849–1926). He was the brother-in-law of journalist Fernanda Nissen and the son–in-law of Norwegian merchant and politician Thomes Thomesen. He was the father of geologist Werner Werenskiold (1883–1961) and sculptor Dagfin Werenskiold (1892–1977).''Dagfin Werenskiold'' (Store norske leksikon)
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Selected works

File:Erik Werenskiold - September - Google Art Project.jpg, September (1883) File:Gjetere Tåtøy.jpg, Shepherds at Tåtøy (1883) File:Landscape-with-a-Lake.jpg, Landscape with a Lake (1895) File:ErikWerenskiold-858985.jpg, In Family Surroundings (c.1900) File:Erik Werenskiold - Erika Nissen.jpg, Portrait of Erika Nissen (1892) File:Godt Nytaar!, Werenskiold 1890.jpg, Godt Nytaar! (Happy New Year, 1890) File:Werenskiold trolls 1895.jpg, Trolls (1895) File:Portrait of Bjornstjerne Bjornson by Erik Werenskiold - Statens Museum for Kunst - DSC08280.JPG, Portrait of Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson (1895)

Visual art

*''Bærrensere'' (1878) *''Et møte'' (1880) *''Gjetere'' (1882) *''En bondebegravelse'' (1883–85) *''Olivia'' (1891) *''Solstreif'' (1891) *''Lekende barn'' (1892) *''Sommeraften i Kviteseid'' (1893) *''Skysshesten'' (1894) *''Aftenlandskap fra Kviteseid'' (1895) *''Hungersnøden'' (1923 and 1928–29) *''Middagsselskapet'' (1928–30) *''En streikebryter'' ca. (1930)

Portraits

*'' Gunnar Heiberg'' (1878) *'' Amund Helland'' (1885) *'' Kitty Kielland'' (1891) *''

Edvard Grieg Edvard Hagerup Grieg ( , ; 15 June 18434 September 1907) was a Norwegian composer and pianist. He is widely considered one of the leading Romantic music, Romantic era composers, and his music is part of the standard classical repertoire worldwid ...

'' (1892 and 1902) *'' Erika Nissen'' (1892) *''

Fridtjof Nansen Fridtjof Wedel-Jarlsberg Nansen (; 10 October 1861 – 13 May 1930) was a Norwegian polymath and Nobel Peace Prize laureate. He gained prominence at various points in his life as an explorer, scientist, diplomat, humanitarian and co-founded the ...

'' (1893) *'' Frederik Collett'' (1894) *''

Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson Bjørnstjerne Martinius Bjørnson ( , ; 8 December 1832 – 26 April 1910) was a Norwegian writer who received the 1903 Nobel Prize in Literature "as a tribute to his noble, magnificent and versatile poetry, which has always been distinguished ...

'' (1895) *''

Henrik Ibsen Henrik Johan Ibsen (; ; 20 March 1828 – 23 May 1906) was a Norwegian playwright, poet and actor. Ibsen is considered the world's pre-eminent dramatist of the 19th century and is often referred to as "the father of modern drama." He pioneered ...

'' (1895) *'' Eva Nansen'' (1896) *''

Sophus Lie Marius Sophus Lie ( ; ; 17 December 1842 – 18 February 1899) was a Norwegian mathematician. He largely created the theory of continuous symmetry and applied it to the study of geometry and differential equations. He also made substantial cont ...

'' (1902) *'' Christian Michelsen'' (1906) File:Knut Hamsun by Erik Werenskiold.jpg, Knut Hamsun
(1889) File:Gunnar Heiberg.JPG, Gunnar Heiberg
(1878) File:Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson by Erik Werenskiold.jpg, Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson (1895)

References

Other sources

*Østby, Leif ''Erik Werenskiold'' ( Oslo: Dreyers Forlag, 1977)

External links

Paintings by Erik and Dagfin Werenskiold in the O. Væring archive
* * *
Erik Werenskiold drawings
Illustrations by Erik Werenskiold from manuscripts and early print books. {{DEFAULTSORT:Werenskiold, Erik 19th-century Norwegian painters 20th-century Norwegian painters Norwegian male painters 1855 births 1938 deaths 19th-century Norwegian illustrators 20th-century Norwegian illustrators Norwegian fantasy artists Norwegian landscape painters Norwegian portrait painters Illustrators of fairy tales People from Eidskog People from Kongsvinger Place of death missing Commanders First Class of the Order of the Dannebrog 19th-century Norwegian male artists 20th-century Norwegian male artists