Maja Refsum (23 September 1897 – 11 January 1986) was a Norwegian sculptor and teacher. She grew up in Kristiania (now Oslo), Norway. She was the daughter of Harald Refsum (1866-1950) and Hanna Ovidia Yssen (1863-1944). She was the aunt of Sigrid Christie (1923-2004), who was married to noted antiquarian

Håkon Christie Håkon Andreas Christie (30 August 1922 – 14 December 2010) was a Norwegian architectural historian, antiquarian and author. Together with his wife, Sigrid Marie Christie (18 April 1923 - 16 May 2004) he worked from 1950 on the history of N ...

. She was married to art historian and head of

Norwegian Directorate for Cultural Heritage The Directorate for Cultural Heritage ( or ''Direktoratet for kulturminneforvaltning'') is a etat, government agency responsible for the management of cultural heritage in Norway. Subordinate to the Norwegian Ministry of the Environment, it mana ...

Arne Nygård-Nilssen Arne Nygård-Nilssen - ca. 1950 - Oslo Museum - OB.F06279a. Arne Nygård-Nilssen (5 April 1899 – 26 July 1958) was a Norwegian art historian, publicist and magazine editor. Biography Nygård-Nilssen grew up in Bergen, Norway where his father wa ...

. Their daughter Kirsti (1935-) married Carsten Hopstock. At the State Crafts and Art Industry School (1917–19) she had Lars Utne as a supervisor. She furthered her education at the art academy in Kristiania with Gunnar Utsond (1919–20) and at

Bauhaus University The Bauhaus-Universität Weimar is a university located in Weimar, Germany, and specializes in the artistic and technical fields. Established in 1860 as the Great Ducal Saxon Art School, it gained collegiate status on 3 June 1910. In 1919 the s ...

in Weimar under Richard Engelmann, director of the Sculpture School (1921-22). She is represented in the

National Gallery of Norway The National Gallery () is a gallery in Oslo, Norway. Since 2003 it is administratively a part of the National Museum of Art, Architecture and Design. History It was established in 1842 following a parliamentary decision from 1836. Originally lo ...

with the

terracotta Terracotta, also known as terra cotta or terra-cotta (; ; ), is a clay-based non-vitreous ceramic OED, "Terracotta""Terracotta" MFA Boston, "Cameo" database fired at relatively low temperatures. It is therefore a term used for earthenware obj ...

sculpture ''Bruden pyntes''. Among her most important works is her sculpture of writer

Amalie Skram Amalie Skram (22 August 1846 – 15 March 1905) was a Norwegian author and feminist who gave voice to a woman's point of view with her naturalist writing. In Norway, she is frequently considered the most important female writer of the Modern B ...

situated at

Nordnes Nordnes is a peninsula and neighbourhood in the city centre of Bergen in Vestland county, Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The ...

Bergen, Norway Bergen (, ) is a city and municipality in Vestland county on the west coast of Norway. Bergen is the second-largest city in Norway after the capital Oslo. By May 2025 the population is 294 029 according to Statistics Norway. The municipali ...

References

1897 births 1986 deaths Artists from Oslo Norwegian sculptors Norwegian women sculptors 20th-century Norwegian sculptors {{Norway-artist-stub