Jakob Bersveinson Klukstad (1705–1773) was a Norwegian wood carver and painter. Klukstad had great significance for future wood carvers in the

Gudbrand Valley Gudbrandsdalen (; en, Gudbrand Valley) is a valley and traditional district in the Norwegian county of Innlandet (formerly Oppland). The valley is oriented in a north-westerly direction from Lillehammer and the lake of Mjøsa, extending towa ...

Biography

Klukstad was born in Lom. He spent most of his career on the Klukstad farm in

Lesja Lesja is a municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Gudbrandsdal. The administrative centre of the municipality is village of Lesja. Other villages in the municipality include Bjorli, Lesjaskog, ...

. In 1734 he married Anne Knutsdatter (1704-1766) from Lom. Beginning in 1746 they are recorded as taking communion at the church in Lesja, where they continued for years afterwards. In 1747 Klukstad was recorded as holding a cotter's farm that was attached to the larger farm of Nordistugu Klukstad in Lesja. He was buried at Lesja Church, where a memorial stone recognizing his work was placed at his grave in 2000. Klukstad was a self-taught artist who developed his own unique style. His main artistic contribution came at churches in the Gudbrand Valley, where he received several major commissions. His altarpieces and pulpits were richly carved with motifs of continuous vines with large-leaved acanthus or smaller, curly and small-lobed foliage. Some of the works have a wealth of small and large flowers, palmettes and leaf limes with great variety in the details. Klukstad's great masterpieces are the altarpiece at Lesja Church (1742–45) and the pulpit and altarpiece in

Heidal Church Heidal Church ( no, Heidal kyrkje) is a parish church of the Church of Norway in Sel Municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the village of Bjølstad, in Heidal, a side valley of the main Gudbrandsdalen valley. It is the churc ...

(1753–54). Klukstad's work can also be seen at Skjåk Church (ca. 1750) and Kors Church in

Romsdal Romsdal is a Districts of Norway, traditional district in the Norwegian county Møre og Romsdal, located between Nordmøre and Sunnmøre. The district of Romsdal comprises Aukra, Fræna, Midsund, Molde, Nesset, Rauma, Norway, Rauma, Sandøy, and V ...

(1769).

References

Other sources

*Kleiven, Ivar (1973) ''Gamal bondekultur i Gudbrandsdalen: Lom og Skjaak'' (H. Aschehoug & Co.) *Stagg, Frank Noel (1956) ''The heart of Norway: A history of the central provinces'' (Allen & Unwin) 1705 births 1773 deaths People from Lom, Norway People from Lesja Norwegian woodcarvers Folk artists 18th-century Norwegian painters 18th-century male artists Norwegian male painters 18th-century sculptors Norwegian sculptors {{Norway-artist-stub