Knut Steen (19 November 1924 – 22 September 2011) was a Norwegian

sculptor Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...

. Steen lived in

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

for most of his life and dedicated works such as the Whaler's Monument to the city. Many of his sculptures may also be seen at Midtåsen Sculpture Park, a park dedicated to Steen at the former villa of

Anders Jahre Anders August Jahre (28 May 1891 – 26 February 1982) was a Norwegian shipping magnate and philanthropist. After his death, it was discovered that he had undertaken tax evasion on a large scale; however, his legacy continues in the form of two f ...

in Sandefjord.

Biography

Steen was born 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 ...

, Norway. He was the eldest of four siblings born to Johannes Steen (1895–1983) and Jenny Charlotte Huseby (1895–1976). As a young child, he suffered from tuberculosis before he underwent major lung surgery in 1951. He entered 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 ...

(''Statens Håndverks- og Kunstindustriskole'') in 1944 and the following year 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. ...

(''Statens kunstakademi''). His teachers included Stinius Fredriksen and Danish sculptor

Per Palle Storm Per Palle Storm (1 December 1910 – 6 January 1994) was a Danish-born Norwegian sculptor and professor at the Norwegian National Academy of Fine Arts. Biography He was born in Copenhagen and was raised in Argentina. He was the son of Hans Pe ...

. Steen is often associated with his work on the

in conjunction with the Per Palle Storm. Perhaps his most notable and commonly recognized work is his ''Whaler’s Monument'' (''Hvalfangstmonumentet''), a rotating bronze statue located by the harbor in

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 ...

. The monument depicting four stylized figures of whalers with oars in an open boat was first unveiled in 1960. In 2000, he was commissioned to create a statue of King

Olav V of Norway Olav V (, ; born Prince Alexander of Denmark; 2 July 1903 – 17 January 1991) was King of Norway from 1957 until his death in 1991. Olav was born at Sandringham House in England, the only child of Prince Carl of Denmark and Princess Maud of ...

, which became the subject of great controversy. At a cost of

NOK Nok is a village in Jaba, Nigeria, Jaba Local Government Area of Kaduna State, Nigeria. The village is an archeological site. Archaeology The discovery of terracotta figurines at this location caused its name to be used for the Nok culture, ...

2 million (US$317,000), Steen based his statue on a photo of the king in military garb and depicted him in a serious pose with his right arm raised. This drew the ire of critics, who compared it with similar statues of dictators. Eventually, the Oslo City Council rejected the work and the statue was later installed in

Gulen Gulen or Gülen may refer to: People * Fethullah Gülen (1941—2024), Turkish preacher, author, and Islamic opinion leader * Levent Gülen (born 1994), Turkish-Swiss footballer * Nur Mustafa Gülen (born 1960), Turkish footballer and coach Pl ...

. Steen lived and worked in

Pietrasanta Pietrasanta is a town and ''comune'' on the coast of northern Tuscany in Italy, in the province of Lucca. Pietrasanta is part of Versilia, on the last foothills of the Apuan Alps, about north of Pisa. The town is located off the coast, where the ...

, Italy, in 1973. He died at Sandefjord in September 2011. The Knut Steen Foundation (''Knut Steens Venneforening'') has fostered the development of the Knut Steens Pavilion at Midtasen Sculpture Park in Sandefjord which features works of Steen in marble and bronze. The foundation has also made his studio in Pietrasanta open for public viewing. Atle Jørstad and Camilla Bjørn
Billedhoggeren Knut Steen er død
tv2.no dated 22 September 2011

Selected works

*''Monument to Fredrik Paasche'', University Garden, Oslo, 1950 *''Monument to Rudolf Nilsen'', Rudolf Nilsens plass, Oslo, 1953 *'' Whaler's Monument '', Sandefjord, 1960 * ''Landscape Pan'', Gjøvik 1966 *''Nike'', Tromsø Maskinistskole, Tromsø, 1967 *''Revival history'', Hønefoss 1979 *''Aurora and Sapfo'', Concert Hall, Oslo, 1981 *''Aurora'', Government Building, Oslo, 1982 *''Fantastico'', Sandvika 1985 *''Drømmersken'', marble, Ekebergparken, Oslo, 1992 *'' Olav Kyrre'', Bergen 1998 * ''King Olav 5'', granite, 2006

References

External links

Knut Steens Venneforening Official siteThe Whaling Monument
(Visit Sandefjord) {{DEFAULTSORT:Steen, Knut 1924 births 2011 deaths Artists from Oslo Oslo National Academy of the Arts alumni 20th-century Norwegian sculptors Norwegian expatriates in Italy