Ragnhild Kaarbø (26 December 1889 – 20 August 1949) was a Norwegian painter. Influenced by

Fauvism Fauvism ( ) is a style of painting and an art movement that emerged in France at the beginning of the 20th century. It was the style of (, ''the wild beasts''), a group of modern artists whose works emphasized painterly qualities and strong col ...

, she painted

expressionistic Expressionism is a modernist movement, initially in poetry and painting, originating in Northern Europe around the beginning of the 20th century. Its typical trait is to present the world solely from a subjective perspective, distorting it radi ...

portraits. She was also influenced by

Cubism Cubism is an early-20th-century avant-garde art movement which began in Paris. It revolutionized painting and the visual arts, and sparked artistic innovations in music, ballet, literature, and architecture. Cubist subjects are analyzed, broke ...

, but as her cubistic paintings were criticized by the press, she eventually focused on

impressionistic Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement characterized by visible brush strokes, open Composition (visual arts), composition, emphasis on accurate depiction of light in its changing qualities (often accentuating the effects of the passage ...

landscape paintings.

Personal life

Born on 26 December 1889 in

Harstad Harstad may refer to: Places *Harstad (town) Harstad (; ) is a List of towns and cities in Norway, city in Harstad Municipality in Troms county, Norway. The city is also the administrative centre of Harstad Municipality. The city has a populati ...

Troms Troms (; ; ; ) is a Counties of Norway, county in northern Norway. It borders Finnmark county to the northeast and Nordland county in the southwest. Norrbotten Län in Sweden is located to the south and further southeast is a shorter border with ...

, Kaarbø was one of thirteen children born to

Rikard Kaarbø Rikard Olai Kaarbø (22 May 1850 – 3 March 1901) was a Norwegian businessperson and politician. Personal life Rikard Olai Wilhelmsen Kaarbø was born in the parish of Trondenes in Troms, Norway to Wilhelm Olssøn Kaarbø (1811–1876) a ...

and Anna Elisabeth Lund. Her father was a successful businessman who was associated with the establishment of the town of Harstad. He founded several businesses and fostered development of the local shipping industry.

Career

Kaarbø attended a boarding school in

Celle, Germany Celle () is a town and capital of the district of Celle in Lower Saxony, in north-central Germany. The town is situated on the banks of the river Aller, a tributary of the Weser, and has a population of about 71,000. Celle is the southern gate ...

, and decided to pursue a career in art. She 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 ...

Kristiania 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, an ...

(now Oslo), and further with

Henrik Sørensen Henrik Sørensen (12 February 1882 – 24 February 1962) was a Norwegian painter. Personal life Sørensen was born in Fryksände in Sweden as a son of Severin Sørensen and Helene Høibraaten. He was married to Gudrun Klewe, and is father o ...

and

Harriet Backer Harriet Backer (21 January 1845 – 25 March 1932) was a Norwegian painter who achieved recognition in her own time and was a pioneer among female artists both in the Nordic countries and in Europe generally. She is best known for her detailed ...

, and with expressionist

Kees van Dongen Cornelis Theodorus Maria "Kees" van Dongen (26 January 1877 – 28 May 1968) was a Dutch-French painter who was one of the leading Fauves. Van Dongen's early work was influenced by the Hague School and symbolism and it evolved gradually into a ...

in Paris. In 1918, she held her first solo exhibition in the Artists' Association in Kristiania (now Oslo). Between 1920 and 1930 she stayed mainly in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

where she followed the teaching of several noted artists, including Andre Lhote and Pedro Luiz Correia de Araújo (Brazilian, Paris- and Rio-based, 1874–1955). Between 1925 and 1927 she was a student of

Fernand Léger Joseph Fernand Henri Léger (; February 4, 1881 – August 17, 1955) was a French painting, painter, sculpture, sculptor, and film director, filmmaker. In his early works he created a personal form of cubism (known as "tubism") which he gradually ...

and

Amédée Ozenfant Amédée Ozenfant (15 April 1886 – 4 May 1966) was a French cubist painter and writer. Together with Charles-Edouard Jeanneret (later known as Le Corbusier) he founded the Purist movement. Education Ozenfant was born into a bourgeois ...

at the Académie Moderne. During her early years, Kaarbø was influenced by

, and painted many

portraits of women. She then had a period when she mainly painted landscapes, both coastal subjects and town motifs. In Paris in the 1920s she was influenced by

and other

avant-garde In the arts and literature, the term ''avant-garde'' ( meaning or ) identifies an experimental genre or work of art, and the artist who created it, which usually is aesthetically innovative, whilst initially being ideologically unacceptable ...

styles. She participated at the exhibition ("Eight Scandinavian cubists") at 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 ...

in 1926. The exhibition was met with great interest but mostly negative criticism, and Kunstnerforbundet was even boycotted by the press. Disappointed by the negative response, Kaarbø switched to painting landscapes in an

Impressionist Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement characterized by visible brush strokes, open Composition (visual arts), composition, emphasis on accurate depiction of light in its changing qualities (often accentuating the effects of the passage ...

style. She participated in several exhibitions, including two works at the Salon d'automne in 1922, and she participated in the Exposition

Académie Moderne The Académie Moderne was a free art school in Paris. It was founded by Fernand Léger and Amédée Ozenfant in 1924. The school attracted students from Europe and America. Both Léger and Ozenfant taught there, along with Aleksandra Ekster, Ott ...

Exhibition at the Gallery of Art Contemporain in 1926 and the Exposition de l'Académie Moderne Léger Ozenfant in the Gallery Aubier in 1927. Among her works at 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 ...

are ''Komposisjon med hode'' from 1925 and ''Fra Siena'' from 1937. Kaarbø was included in the 2013 exhibition ''Electromagnetic: Modern Art in Northern Europe 1918-31'' at the Henie Onstad Art Center.

Death

Kaarbø died in

on 26 December 1949.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kaarbo, Ragnhild 1889 births 1949 deaths People from Harstad Norwegian expatriates in France 20th-century Norwegian painters 20th-century Norwegian women painters