Jan-Lauritz Opstad (4 November 1950 – 21 November 2018) was a Norwegian museum director and art historian.

Biography

He was born in

Sarpsborg Sarpsborg ( or ), historically Borg, is a city and municipality in Viken county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the city of Sarpsborg. Sarpsborg is part of the fifth largest urban area in Norway when paired with neigh ...

, Norway as a son of

Lauritz Opstad Jens Lauritz Opstad (5 May 1917 – 23 May 2003) was a Norwegian museum director and historian. He was born in Tune as a son of wholesaler Jens Lauritzen Opstad (1884–1963) and Laura Kristine Thune (1885–1921). He finished his secondary educa ...

(1917-2003). His father was director of the

Norwegian Museum of Decorative Arts and Design The Norwegian Museum of Decorative Arts and Design ( no, Kunstindustrimuseet) is a museum in Oslo, Norway. Its collection includes clothing, textile, furniture, silver, glass, ceramics, and handicrafts. Since 2003, the museum has been administ ...

. He had a master's degree in art history from the

University of Oslo The University of Oslo ( no, Universitetet i Oslo; la, Universitas Osloensis) is a public research university located in Oslo, Norway. It is the highest ranked and oldest university in Norway. It is consistently ranked among the top univers ...

in 1978 with an assignment on Norwegian enamel art 1880-1914. In 1979 he was hired as director of the Nordenfjeld Art Museum (''Nordenfjeldske Kunstindustrimuseum'') in

Trondheim Trondheim ( , , ; sma, Tråante), historically Kaupangen, Nidaros and Trondhjem (), is a city and municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. As of 2020, it had a population of 205,332, was the third most populous municipality in Norway, an ...

, a position he held until 2013. His special field is enameling history, and important books include ''Norsk emalje: Kunsthåndverk i verdenstoppen'' (1994).

Selected works

*''Norsk art nouveau'' (1979) *''Ny norsk gullsmedkunst'' (1983) *''En ny bevissthet : norsk kunsthåndverk 1970-1990'' (1989) *''Norsk emalje : kunsthåndverk i verdenstoppen'' (1994) *''Paa Trondhjemsk vis : selskapskultur og skjulte matskatter fra 1700 til 1900'' (2003)

References

1950 births 2018 deaths People from Sarpsborg University of Oslo alumni Norwegian art historians Directors of museums in Norway {{Norway-historian-stub