OSLO MUSEUMS - OSLOFJORDEN - QUEENS BIRTHDAY

Oslo is such a beautiful city with the gorgeous harbours surrounding the street life.

The museums are stunning.

NATIONAL GALLERY

Arne Ekeland "The Last Shots"

Harold Sohlberg "Winter Nights in the Mountains"

This houses Norway's largest public collection of paintings,sculptures,drawings and engravings. 

THE ROYAL PALACE AND QUEEN SONJA'S 80TH BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION

The palace was built in 1818 when King Karl Johan decided to build a royal residence in Oslo.

The Palace housed the Swedish-Norwegian throne.

The palace has a splendid collection of art. 

The park surrounding the palace was the scene of Queen Sonja's 80th birthday celebration on July 4, 2017. I happened to be walking through the park and I was able to see the unveiling of the sculpture of Queen Sonja as a young girl that was given to her by artist Kirsten Kokkin.

Queen Sonja was a "commoner" and it required permission for her to marry King Harold. They spent from 1991-2001 refurbishing the Palace, and now every summer the public is allowed to be admitted to see the palace interior. 

HENRIK IBSEN

Described at the father of modern drama (1828-1906).

There is evidence that John Lennon was a great admirer of Ibsen. (the same round glasses) and he wanted to name the "Double Album" the "Doll's House" in 1968.

He wrote many dramas that involved social issues. "A Doll's House","Hedda Gabler","Ghosts", and "The Wild Duck" His opera "Peer Gynt" was the only opera for which  Edvard Grieg wrote music .

ASTRUP FEARNLEY MUSEUM

Damien Hurst....

Jeff Koons - "Michael Jackson and Bubbles"

Anselm Kiefer "The High Priestess" The work consists of 200 lead books placed on two enormous shelves separated by a 14 foot high glass plate Each book weighs 250-600 lbs. Knowledge is preserved in books, and the High Priestess refers to wisdom personified. Kiefer's lead books preserves their content while making it unavailable. 

Diane 

Arbus

Richard Prince - Photographer - scandalized when he published this nude figure of Brooke Shields in the 1950's.

Gilbert and George .....

I have to say that this is the most beautiul museum I have every seen. Its beautiful location, and building designed by Renzo Piano, the museum has become the destination point for many in Oslo The sail-like roof of the building forms the shape of the exhibition spaces. 

CHINESE SUMMER

The name of the exibition is a metaphor for a nation and art scene that have seen explosive growth over the last two decades.

Huang YongPing, Colosseum, 2007

China is now one of the most important industrial and economic forces on the planet and this has been matched by overwhelming artistic and cultural production that in recent years has moved from a local situation to a position on the global stage. 

Ai Weiwei "Tyres " Odyssey" part of the exibition and now part of the permananet collection

These artists  emerged out of an extended period of cultural isolation and a closed regional context characterised by a highly traditional way of conceiving and appreciating art. 

CONTEMPORARY NORWEGIAN ARCHITECTURE

The museum was in a beautiful old bank building.

The Norwegian architects have tried to express simple modernism with a dialogue between monolithic sculpture between rough and elegant,history and modernity, architecture that is keeping with the simple green concepts of our time. 

VILLA STENERSEN(1939)

The most significant example of Norwegian Modernism and one of the Arne Korsmo's  most well-known works. The financier,art collector and author Rolf C.E. Stenersen (1899-1978) to house his family of four and his art collection. Arne Korsmo is considered one of Norway's leading designers of private residences during the interwar period. 

HAUGAR KUNSTMUSEET IN TONSBERG

Swedish artist LARS LERIN was born in 1954 and has long been considered the leading watercolourists in the Nordic region.

His depictions of northern Norwegian fishing villages and coastal landscapes in watercolours have secured his position in art history.

His sense of isolation and loneliness is tangible.

His depression is depicted in his watercolors, just like he did towards the end of his stay when his alcohol and drug abuse had become so destructive and acutely life threatening that he abandoned Norway, and checked into rehab in Sweden. 

MUSEET FOR SAMTIDSKUNST

Tori Wranes "Hot Pocket" was showing - a  unique voice on the contemporary art scene , she uses costumes,props,voice and movement to create suggestive and hypnotic pockets of time. 

OSCARSHALL

DID I MENTION THE WEATHER WAS GORGEOUS!!!!

King Oscar I of Sweden built a pleasure palace on a headland in 1847-1852. It was designed by the architect Johan Henrik Nebelong. 

MUNCH MUSEUM

Munch is Norway's most renowned and visual artist and one of he forerunners of Expressionism (1863-1944). He made his debut at the autumn Exibition when he was 20.

"The Sick Child" was a representation of hhis sister's death from tuberculosis when she was 14. Spiritual experiences and angst characterize his work. "The Scream" his best known work in which a desperate figure can be seen screaming.

"Madonna"

In 1908 he suffered a mental breakdown. At this time in his life he was a recognized artist. 

VERDENS ENDE (World's End)

They could have served us rocks in this restaurant, and it was so beautiful here, that we would not have even noticed!!

The lighthouse standing on the southernmost tip of Tjome. It is distinguished by its pivoting fire basket. 

BOTANICAL GARDENS

These are made for insects to nest in them.

Thiswas the Catholic Church that I attended while I was in Oslo. They even had a Polish Mass. 

This is  a Picasso on the side of the building that he dedicated to the Norwegians after the War.

This is Oslo  University.....

Mixing the old with the new architecture...

A little whimsey on the streets.......

GREAT VIEWING FROM THE SIDEWALK CAFE..

TIME TO FLY AWAY.......LOVED NORWAY.....