Kaare Espolin Johnson (March 7, 1907 – August 16, 1994) was a Norwegian artist and illustrator.

Life and work

Espolin Johnson was born at the Vasseng farm in

Surnadal Municipality is a municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. It is part of the Nordmøre region. The administrative centre is the village of Skei. Other villages in Surnadal include Bøverfjorden, Glærem, Moen, Stangvik, Surnadalsøra, Sylte, T ...

. In 1909, when he was two years old, his family moved to the town of

Vadsø Vadsø or Vadso may refer to: Places * Vadsø Municipality, a municipality in Finnmark county, Norway *Vadsø (town) (Norwegian language, Norwegian; ), (Northern Sami language, Northern Sami; , or is a List of towns and cities in Norway, tow ...

, and then moved again to the town of Bodø in 1919. In 1927, after spending some time in the town of

Horten Horten () is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Vestfold county, Norway. It is located in the Traditional districts of Norway, traditional district of Jarlsberg. The administrative centre of the municipality is the Horten (town) ...

, Espolin Johnson relocated to

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 ...

, where he studied 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 ...

and

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 and Halfdan Strøm. There he developed a special layering and scraping technique using soot early on in almost exclusively black and white. He had poor eyesight, and this technique was very well suited for his limited vision. He debuted at the Autumn Exhibition in 1932 and soon started contributing illustrations to the magazine '' Arbeidermagasinet''. Espolin Johnson also illustrated many books, among which the first was ''Vett og uvett. Stubber fra Troms og Nordland'' (Sense and Nonsense: Short Stories from Troms and Nordland, 1942) by Einar Kristoffer Aas and Peter Wessel Zapffe. His motifs were based on northern Norwegian fishing life, and continued with motives from rural life to the south. Examples of this include his illustrations for Sigbjørn Hølmebakk's ''Fimbulvinter'' ( The Great Winter, 1964), Regine Normann's ''Ringelihorn og andre eventyr'' (Ringelihorn and Other Tales, 1967), and Johan Bojer's ''Den siste viking'' (The Last Viking, 1972). Espolin Johnson also decorated the Coastal Express vessel MS ''Harald Jarl'' (1960) with several motifs from

Petter Dass Petter Pettersen Dass (c. 1647 – 17 August 1707) was a Lutheran priest and the foremost Norwegian poet of his generation, writing both baroque hymns and topographical poetry. Biography Dass was born on the island of Dønna in what was the ...

's '' Nordlands Trompet''. These paintings were transferred to the new Coastal Express vessel MS ''Trollfjord'' when MS ''Harald Jarl'' was sold. In addition, he decorated the

Kirkenes (Norwegian language, Norwegian; ), (Northern Sami language, Northern Sami; , or is a List of towns and cities in Norway, town in Sør-Varanger Municipality in Finnmark county, in the far northeastern part of Norway. The town lies on a peninsu ...

police station (in 1964), the county hospital in

Ålesund Ålesund () is a List of towns and cities in Norway, town in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. The town is the administrative centre of Ålesund Municipality. The centre of the town of Ålesund lies on the islands of Hessa, Aspøya, Ålesund, Asp� ...

(in 1973), and the telegraph station in

Sandnessjøen Sandnessjøen is a town and the administrative centre of Alstahaug Municipality in Nordland county, Norway. Sandnessjøen was granted special trading privileges in the late 1600s, but it did not receive town status until 1999. Sandnessjøen is ...

(in 1975). In an interview with

NRK The Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (), commonly known by its initialism NRK, is a Norwegian state-run, government-influenced radio and television public broadcasting company. The NRK broadcasts three national TV channels and thirteen nat ...

TV in connection with the opening of the Espolin Gallery in 1992, Espolin Johnson stated that, when he looked back at his artistic work, it was the illustrations for ''Vett og Uvett'' and Bojer's ''Den siste viking'' that gave him the most pleasure. He highlighted the Baroque humor in ''Vett og Uvett'' as one of the reasons why he had enjoyed that task in particular. Espolin Johnson received the Nordland County Culture Prize in 1990. He is represented in Norway's

National Museum of Art, Architecture and Design The National Museum (, officially the National Museum of Art, Architecture and Design) is a museum in Oslo, Norway which holds the Norwegian state's public collection of art, architecture, and design objects. The collection totals over 400,000 w ...

by 39 of his artworks.

Literature

A biography of Espolin Johnson was written by Arne Durban in 1979. In 1994, together with Arthur Arntzen, Espolin Johnson coauthored the book ''Og langsomt kom lyset'' (And Slowly Came the Light), which discusses

Northern Norway Northern Norway (, , ; ) is a geographical region of Norway, consisting of the three northernmost counties Nordland, Troms and Finnmark, in total about 35% of the Norwegian mainland. Some of the largest towns in Northern Norway (from south to no ...

and its art, with 22 of his own works in focus. To mark the centenary of the birth of Espolin Johnson, in 2007

Pax Forlag Pax Forlag is a Norwegian publishing house, established in 1964. The first manager was Tor Bjerkmann, who chaired the company from 1964 to 1972. Starting with Bjerkmann's new translation of George Orwell's ''Animal Farm'', Pax published 150 qu ...

issued a new and expanded edition of Bjørn Tore Pedersen's volume ''Kaare Espolin Johnson – Lengselens billeddikter'' (Kaare Espolin Johnson: The Visual Poet of Longing).

Espolin Gallery

The

Espolin Gallery The Espolin Gallery () is an art gallery in Storvågan near Kabelvåg in Vågan Municipality, Norway. The gallery was established in 1992 to display the works of the artist Kaare Espolin Johnson. In addition to Espolin Johnson's works, the gall ...

() was established in 1992 in

Kabelvåg , , or is a village in Vågan Municipality in Nordland county, Norway. It is located on the southern shore of the island of Austvågøya in the Lofoten archipelago. Kabelvåg lies about to the southwest of the town of Svolvær, the administrat ...

Vågan Municipality Vågan () is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Nordland Counties of Norway, county, Norway. It is part of the Districts of Norway, traditional district of Lofoten. The administrative centre of the municipality is the List of to ...

, which received 40 to 50 of Espolin Johnson's works in 1983. The collection contains nearly 170 works.

Illustrations by Espolin Johnson

Books illustrated

* Einar K. Aas and Peter Wessel Zapffe: ''Vett og uvett''. 1942 (plus various new editions) *

Henrik Wergeland Henrik Arnold Thaulow Wergeland (17 June 1808 – 12 July 1845) was a Norwegian writer, most celebrated for his poetry but also a prolific playwright, polemicist, historian, and linguist. He is often described as a leading pioneer in the develop ...

: ''Vesle-Hans''. 1945 * Hans Henrik Holm: ''Vårhelg i Gaukleikleiv''. 1947 (with Tore Deinboll) * Hans Henrik Holm: ''Fugl Føniks i eplehagen''. 1948 (with Tore Deinboll) * Øivind Bolstad: ''Spøkefuglen på Toska''. 1955 * Sigbjørn Hølmebakk: ''Fimbulvinteren''. 1964 * Olav Nordrå: ''Herr Petters trompet''. 1964 * Olav Nordrå: ''Jeg hilser jorden''. 1965 * Regine Normann: ''Ringelihorn og andre eventyr''. 1967 *

Ole Barman Ole Gregor Liljedahl Barman (1897–1983) was a Norwegian jurist, novelist, short story writer, playwright and theatre director. Among his novels are ''Fast i fjellet'' from 1930 and ''Ein mann gjekk heim'' from 1933. He published the short story ...

: ''Draumen og andre noveller''. 1968 * ''Den fyrste song. Antologi over norske voggesongar''. 1968 * Hans Johan Bjørnstad: ''Av lofotfiskerens saga''. 1970 * Roar Petersen: ''Sånn kan det gå''. 1970 * Johan Bojer: ''Den siste viking''. 1972 * Hans Johan Bjørnstad: ''Jeg kjente et land''. 1976 * ''Ut mot hav. Nordland fylkes fiskarlag''. 1977 * ''Før oss 1. Noveller fra eldre barnelitteratur'', with Sonja Hagemann. 1977 * Arne Durban: ''Kaare Espolin Johnson''. 1979 * Hans Johan Bjørnstad: ''... men kirkesangeren var pennefør''. 1979 * ''Før og nå. Nynorsk litteratur fra Sivle til Sagen''. 1980 *

Peter Christen Asbjørnsen Peter Christen Asbjørnsen (15 January 18125 January 1885) was a Norwegian writer and scholar. He and Jørgen Engebretsen Moe were collectors of Norwegian folklore. They were so closely united in their lives' work that their folk tale collection ...

and

Jørgen Moe Jørgen Engebretsen Moe (22 April 1813–27 March 1882) was a Norwegian folklorist, bishop, poet, and author. He is best known for the '' Norske Folkeeventyr'', a collection of Norwegian folk tales which he edited in collaboration with Pe ...

: ''Det var en gang…'' 1981 * ''Lofotboka''. 1982 * ''I storm og stilla. Nordland fylkes fiskarlag''. 1982 * ''Barnas beste: i gamle dager''. 1983 * ''Skolp: årbok for Vågan''. 1984 * ''Ord for andre: antologi til inntekt for de sultrammede i Etiopia''. 1985 * Reidar Hirsti: ''Grenseløse mennesker''. 1987 * ''Pomorhandelen''. Einar Niemi (ed.) 1992 * ''Årbok for Vågan''. 1995 * Kaare Espolin Johnson: ''Grafikk''. 1997 * Kaare Espolin Johnson and Arthur Arntzen: ''Og langsomt kom lyset''. 1994 * Kaare Espolin Johnson: ''Skisser og forelskelser''. 2002 * Bjørn Tore Pedersen: ''Lengselens billeddikter''. 2000 * Linda Lillevik: ''Eventyrlige Espolin: glimt fra et kunstnerliv''. 2007 * ''Å låne øyne å se med''. Aaslaug Vaa (ed.). 2007 * ''Vær hilset: Espolin i 100 år''. Wenche Thorunn Nilsen. (ed.). 2007

Cover illustrations

* Andreas Haukland: ''Landeveiens folk''. 1933 * Helge Holst: ''Huset på grensen''. 1933 *

Franz Kafka Franz Kafka (3 July 1883 – 3 June 1924) was a novelist and writer from Prague who was Jewish, Austrian, and Czech and wrote in German. He is widely regarded as a major figure of 20th-century literature. His work fuses elements of Litera ...

: ''Prosessen''. 1934 * Gisken Wildenway: ''Andrine og Kjell''. 1934 * Øivind Bolstad: ''De gyldne lenker''. 1934 * Sven Nilsen: ''Et menneske kommer til verden''. 1934 *

John Dos Passos John Roderigo Dos Passos (; January 14, 1896 – September 28, 1970) was an American novelist, most notable for his U.S.A. (trilogy), ''U.S.A.'' trilogy. Born in Chicago, Dos Passos graduated from Harvard College in 1916. He traveled widely as a ...

: ''Cirkus Verdensteater''. 1934 *

Nils Johan Rud Nils Johan Rud (24 July 1908 – 7 June 1993) was a Norwegian novelist, writer of short stories, children's writer, and a magazine editor. He is particularly known for his long-term period as editor of the magazine ''Arbeidermagasinet'' / ' ...

: ''Så stjeler vi et fattighus''. 1934 * Herman Lundsrud: ''Vi som ikke er mennesker''. 1935 * Bjørn Rongen: ''Nettenes natt''. 1940 * Leif Ytteren: ''Trollfjell''. 1944 * Stephen Wendt: ''Min elskede, husker du?'' 1951 * Seymour Shubin: ''Fienden i meg selv''. 1955 * Emil Boysen: ''Gjenkjennelse''. 1957 * ''Norge i nord''. Den norske turistforening. 1963 * Olav Nordrå: ''Guds ulver''. 1967 *

Alf Larsen Alf Larsen (22 July 1885 – 12 December 1967) was a Norwegian poet, essayist and magazine editor. He founded and edited the anthrophosophic magazine from 1933 to 1941. His literary awards include the Gyldendal's Endowment (1959) and ...

: ''Siste strofer''. 1969 * Johan Bojer: ''Folk ved sjøen''. 1977 * Johan Bojer: ''Vår egen stamme''. 1977 * Per Fugelli: ''Bruk av legemidler på Værøy og Røst''. 1978 * '' Lofotboka''. 1979 *

Arvid Hanssen Arvid Hanssen (28 July 1932 – 31 July 1998) was a Norwegian journalist, newspaper editor, poet, novelist and children's writer. Biography Hanssen was born in Vika at Indre Senja in Troms county. He completed Finnsnes High School in 1948. He ...

: ''Søsken på Guds jord''. 1981 * Arvid Møller: ''Losen på Tranøy''. 1983 * Randi Folkestad: ''Tangsforretningen''. 1985 *

Liv Marie Austrem Liv Marie Austrem (born 30 January 1947) is a Norwegian novelist, children's writer and non-fiction writer. Among her children's books are ''Runar vart 17 år'' from 1988 and ''Monas historie'' from 1993. She was awarded the Brage Prize The Br ...

: ''Gyda''. 1995 * Lars Hermansen: ''Exercise in Human Physiology''. 1986 * Olav H. Hauge: ''Trust Your Life to Water and Eternity''. 1987 * Kjell Sandvik: ''Sang til Finnmark''. 1989. * ''Environmental Consequences of Deep Seabed Mining''. 1991 * ''Challenges of a Changing World''. 1991 * ''Proceedings from the Northern Sea Route Expert Meeting''. 1992 *

Tore Skoglund Tore may refer to: Places * Tõre, Estonia, a village * Tore, Scotland, a village * Töre, Sweden, a locality * Töre River, Sweden * Tore (volcano), Papua New Guinea People * Tore (given name), a Scandinavian given name * Elihan Tore (1885–1976 ...

: ''Draugen, hevneren fra havet''. 1992 * Per Fugelli: ''Doktor på Værøy og Røst''; ''Lege på Utrøst''. 2006

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Johnson, Kaare Espolin 20th-century Norwegian painters 20th-century Norwegian illustrators Norwegian magazine illustrators People from Surnadal 1907 births 1994 deaths