Theodor Severin Kittelsen (27 April 1857 – 21 January 1914) was a Norwegian artist. He is one of the most popular artists in Norway. Kittelsen became famous for his nature paintings, as well as for his illustrations of fairy tales and legends, especially of

troll A troll is a being in Nordic folklore, including Norse mythology. In Old Norse sources, beings described as trolls dwell in isolated areas of rocks, mountains, or caves, live together in small family units, and are rarely helpful to human bei ...

Early life

Kittelsen was born in the coastal town of Kragerø in

Grenland Grenland is a traditional district in Telemark county, in the south-east of Norway. "Grenland" has referred to varying locations throughout history. In modern times, Grenland refers to the areas of the municipalities of Skien, Porsgrunn, Bamble, ...

, Norway. His father died when he was young, leaving a wife and eight children in difficult circumstances. Theodor was only 11 years old when he was apprenticed to a watchmaker. When at the age of 17 his talent was discovered by Diderich Maria Aall, he became a pupil at

Wilhelm von Hanno Andreas Friedrich Wilhelm von Hanno (15 December 1826 – 12 December 1882) was a German-born Norwegian architect, sculptor and painter. He was among the leading architects in Norway during the middle of the 1800s. Biography Wilhelm von Hann ...

s drawing school in Christiania (now Oslo). Because of generous financial support by Aall he later studied in

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

. However, in 1879 Diderich Aall could no longer manage to support him, so Kittelsen had to earn his money as a draftsman for German newspapers and magazines.

Career

In 1882, Kittelsen was granted a state scholarship to study in Paris, though he would return to Munich at his own expense by the following year. In 1887, he returned to Norway for good, where he would find inspiration in the surrounding nature. He spent the next two years in

Lofoten Lofoten ( , ; ; ) is an archipelago and a Districts of Norway, traditional district in the county of Nordland, Norway. Lofoten has distinctive scenery with dramatic mountains and peaks, open sea and sheltered bays, beaches, and untouched lands. T ...

, where he lived with his sister and brother-in-law at Skomvær Lighthouse. Kittelsen also started to write texts to his drawings there. Kittelsen and his family settled in a home and artist studio which he called Lauvlia near

Prestfoss Prestfoss is the administrative center of Sigdal municipality in Buskerud, Norway. Highway Fv287 passes through Prestfoss. Both Fv132 and Fv133 start from here. Summary The population of Pressfoss as of 2005 was 465. Prestfoss is located 1.5 ho ...

during 1899, where he would spend his best artistic years. During this period, Kittelsen was hired to illustrate

Norwegian Folktales ''Norwegian Folktales'' () is a collection of Norwegian folktales and legends by Peter Christen Asbjørnsen and Jørgen Moe. It is also known as ''Asbjørnsen and Moe'', after the collectors. Asbjørnsen and Moe Asbjørnsen, a teacher, and ...

(Norwegian: ''Norske Folkeeventyr'') by the Norwegian folklore collector

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 ...

. In 1908 he was made Knight of The Royal Norwegian Order of St. Olav. However, he was forced to sell and leave Lauvlia in 1910 due to failing health. Kittelsen was granted an artist’s stipend in 1911; he died in Jeløya in 1914. After his death, his widow Inga Kittelsen was granted an annual salary from the

Storting The Storting ( ; ) is the supreme legislature of Norway, established in 1814 by the Constitution of Norway. It is located in Oslo. The Unicameralism, unicameral parliament has 169 members and is elected every four years based on party-list propo ...

Style

Kittelsen's style had elements of

Neo-Romantic The term neo-romanticism is used to cover a variety of movements in philosophy, literature, music, painting, and architecture, as well as social movements, that exist after and incorporate elements from the era of Romanticism. It has been used ...

and

naïve Naivety (also spelled naïvety), naiveness, or naïveté is the state of being naive. It refers to an apparent or actual lack of experience and sophistication, often describing a neglect of pragmatism in favor of moral idealism. A ''naïve'' may ...

painting. As a national artist he is highly respected and well known in Norway, but doesn't receive much international attention, which is the reason that his name is often not included in registers of internationally recognized painters and artists.

Dedicated museums

* Lauvlia, his home from 1899 to 1910, is located in

Sigdal Sigdal is a Municipalities of Norway, municipality in Buskerud Counties of Norway, County, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Prestfoss. The municipality of Sigdal was established on 1 January 1838 (see forman ...

north of

along Highway Fv287, with scenic view of Lake Soneren. The surrounding area, in particular Mount Andersnatten which overlooks the lake a few kilometres north, inspired some of Kittelsen's most famous landscapes. Today Lauvlia is a private museum featuring an exhibition of Kittelsen’s original work. Lauvlia is decorated with Kittelsen's own woodcarvings and murals. A new exhibition of original Kittelsen works is opened each year with painting and drawing activities arranged for children. The paintings exhibited are rotated each year. * Theodor Kittelsen Museum at

Blaafarveværket Blaafarveværket, or the Blue Colour Works, was a mining and industrial company located at Åmot in Modum in Buskerud, Norway, which existed from 1776 to 1898, and which was Norway's largest mining company in the first half of the 19th century. ...

is at the Skuterudhøyden ridge by the Cobalt Mines. Kittelsen’s poetical interpretations of nature, the forest, the mountains and trolls are presented in the form of carved furniture, oil paintings, watercolours and drawings. New exhibitions each year. In 2014 are Blaafarveværket in charge of arranging the biggest exhibition held ever in modern times. *The house where the artist grew up in Kragerø is also currently a museum devoted to his legacy.

Cultural references

Black metal Black metal is an extreme metal, extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. Common traits include Tempo#Beats per minute, fast tempos, a Screaming (music)#Black metal, shrieking vocal style, heavily distorted Electric guitar, guitars played with tr ...

and

folk metal Folk metal is a fusion genre of heavy metal music and traditional folk music that developed in Europe during the 1990s. It is characterised by the widespread use of folk instruments and, to a lesser extent, traditional singing styles (for example ...

bands such as

Burzum Burzum (; ) is a Norwegian music project founded by former Mayhem member Varg Vikernes in 1991. Although Burzum never played live performances, it became a staple of the early Norwegian black metal scene and is considered one of the most infl ...

, Empyrium, Otyg and

Satyricon The ''Satyricon'', ''Satyricon'' ''liber'' (''The Book of Satyrlike Adventures''), or ''Satyrica'', is a Latin work of fiction believed to have been written by Gaius Petronius in the late 1st century AD, though the manuscript tradition identifi ...

have used some of his pictures as album art, notably illustrations taken from Kittelsen's book ''Svartedauen'' (The Black Death). Musician

Phil Elverum Philip Whitman Elverum (; born May 26, 1978) is an American musician and songwriter known for his Independent music, indie bands the Microphones and Mount Eerie. Based in Anacortes, Washington, in the mid-2000s he began to spell his surname Elv ...

named the tenth song on his 2017 album A Crow Looked at Me after Kittelesen's painting "Soria Moria" specifically, using it as an illustration of his grief. Kittelsen's 160th birthday was celebrated in a

Google doodle Google Doodle is a special, temporary alteration of the logo on Google's homepages intended to commemorate holidays, events, achievements, and historical figures. The first Google Doodle honored the 1998 edition of the long-running annual Bu ...

on 27 April 2017, giving him some exposure outside of Norway.

Paintings and drawings

File:Nøkken at Nasjonalgalleriet.jpg, ''Nøkken'', 1887–92 (

The Nix ''The Nix'' is the 2016 debut novel by American Writer Nathan Hill. It's set across multiple decades and follows the life of Samuel Andresen-Anderson and his mother who abandoned him. The narration follows multiple perspectives and is told non- ...

) File:Theodor Kittelsen Ekko 1888.jpg, ''Ekko'' (

Echo In audio signal processing and acoustics, an echo is a reflection of sound that arrives at the listener with a delay after the direct sound. The delay is directly proportional to the distance of the reflecting surface from the source and the lis ...

), 1888 File:Theodor Kittelsen Huldra forsvant.jpg, ''Huldra forsvant'' (The

Hulder A hulder (or huldra) is a seductive forest creature found in Scandinavian folklore. Her name derives from a root meaning "covered" or "secret". In Norwegian folklore, she is known as huldra ("the rchetypalhulder", though folklore presuppose ...

That Disappeared) File:Theodor Kittelsen - Hakkespett, 1912 (Woodpecker).jpg, ''Hakkespett'', 1912 (Woodpecker) File:Theodor Kittelsen - Stooks of Corn in Moon light - NG.K&H.B.00110 - National Museum of Art, Architecture and Design.jpg, ''Kornstaur i måneskinn'', c. 1900 (Stooks of Grain in Moonlight) File:Trollet som grunner på hvor gammelt det er.jpg, ''Trollet som grunner på hvor gammelt det er'', 1911 (The

who wonders how old he is) File:Theodor Kittelsen - Det rusler og tusler rasler og tasler, 1900 (Creepy, Crawly, Rustling, Bustling).jpg, ''Det rusler og tusler rasler og tasler'', 1900 (Creepy, Crawly, Rustling, Bustling) File:Theodor Kittelsen - Forest Troll - NG.K&H.B.03222 - National Museum of Art, Architecture and Design.jpg, ''Skogtroll'', 1906 (Forest Troll) File:Theodor Kittelsen-En uheldig bjørnejakt.jpg, ''En uheldig bjørnejakt'' (An Unfortunate Bear Hunt) File:TheodorKittelsen-KvitebjørnKongValemon(1912).JPG, ''Kvitebjorn Kong Valemon'', 1912 ( White-Bear-King-Valemon) File:Op under Fjeldet toner en Lur.jpg, ''Op under Fjeldet toner en Lur'', 1900 (Up in the Hills a Clarion Call rings out) File:Theodor Kittelsen - Nøkken som hvit hest.jpg, ''Nøkken som hvit hest'', 1909 (The Nix as a white horse) File:Juletroll.jpg, ''Juletroll'', 1907 (Christmas Troll) File:Theodor Kittelsen - The twelve Wild Ducks - NG.M.00488 - National Museum of Art, Architecture and Design.jpg, ''12 villender'', 1897 (The 12 wild ducks) File:Theodor Kittelsen Streik 1879.jpg, ''Streik'', 1879 (Strike action) File:Gutt på hvit hest.jpg, ''Gutt på hvit hest'' (Boy on white horse)

Illustrations for ''Svartedauen'' (Black Death)

Image:Theodor Kittelsen - Fattigmannen, 1894-95 (The Pauper).jpg, ''Fattigmannen, 1894–95 (The Pauper)'' Image:Theodor Kittelsen - Pesta i trappen, 1896 (Pesta on the Stairs).jpg, ''Pesta i trappen, 1896 (Plague on the Stairs)'' Image:Theodor Kittelsen - Pesta Kommer, 1894-95 (Pesta's Coming).jpg, ''Pesta Kommer, 1894–95 (Plague's Coming)'' Image:Theodor Kittelsen - Musstad, 1896.jpg, ''Musstad, 1896'' (Mouse town)

Bibliography

Books illustrated by Theodor Kittelsen:''Theodor Kittelsen: Drawings and Watercolours''. (Leif Østby. Dreyer, 1975) * ''Fra Livet i de smaa Forholde I-II'' (1889–1890) * ''Fra Lofoten I-II'' (1890–1891) * ''Troldskab'' (1892) * ''Glemmebogen'' (1892) * ''Har dyrene Sjæl?'' (1894) * ''Kludesamleren'' (1894) * ''Im Thierstaate'' (1896) * ''Ordsprog'' (1898) * ''Svartedauen'' (1900) * ''Billeder og Ord'' (1901) * ''Folk og trold. Minder og drømme'' (1911) * ''Soria Moria slot'' (1911) * ''Løgn og forbandet digt'' (1912) * ''Heimskringla'' (1914)

References

Other sources

* Holger Koefoed (1994) ''Møter med Th. Kittelsen'' (Oslo: Gyldendal Tiden)

External links

* *
The big size Kittelsen's illustrations

* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20071007152357/http://lauvlia.no/node/18 Theodor Kittelsen's home in Sigdal, Norway (museum)
A huge gallery of Kittelsen's works

Kittelsen's work in the collection of The National Museum of Art, Architecture and Design, Oslo

From Kragerø: The Incredible Influence of Theodor Kittelsen on Black Metal
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kittelsen, Theodor 1857 births 1914 deaths People from Kragerø Norwegian children's book illustrators 19th-century Norwegian painters 20th-century Norwegian painters Norwegian male painters Norwegian fantasy artists People from Buskerud Illustrators of fairy tales People from Sigdal 19th-century Norwegian male artists 20th-century Norwegian male artists 19th-century Norwegian illustrators 20th-century Norwegian illustrators