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PROPERTY OF A NORWEGIAN PRIVATE COLLECTOR f - FRITS THAULOW NORWEGIAN, 1847-1906 ØVRE TELEMARKEN (UPPER TELEMARK)

signed, titled and dated Frits Thaulow / Øvre Telemarken Okt. 1890 l.l.

oil on canvas

PROVENANCE

Axel Heiberg, Oslo (acquired from the artist. Diplomat, sportsman, businessman and philanthropist, Heiberg (b. 1848) was an influential figure in Oslo life at the end of the 19th century. Notable among his many endeavours was his co-founding of the Fram Shipping Company following Fridtjof Nansen's voyage to the North Pole in the Fram, and Heiberg's financial support for two subsequent polar expeditions undertaken in the same vessel. The eponymous island and glacier discovered during these expeditions, were named in recognition of Heiberg's support for these explorations. In the field of art Heiberg was instrumental in commissioning Stefan Sinding to sculpt likenesses of both Ibsen and Bjørnsonto to be placed in front of the National theatre in Oslo to honour the achievements of both playwrights.)
M.A. Nissen, Oslo
Acquired from the above by the present owner in 1975
CATALOGUE NOTE

An avid traveller throughout his life, during the 1880s and early 1890s, Thaulow combined trips abroad with extended forays to the farther flung reaches of Norway. In the summer of 1888 he visited Vestre Slidre; the following year he explored Hardanger and in 1890 he journied to Seljord, Telemark, where he painted the present work. Depicting the farms of Ligarden on the left and Loftsgardene on the right at Seljord in upper Telemark, the subject of the present work remains largely intact, the view that inspired Thaulow little changed to this day (fig. 1). Thaulow painted at least one other canvas of the present subject which is slightly smaller in size, and missing the stylised young sapling in the lower right foreground. This work entered the Royal Collection when it was acquired by Oscar II, King of Sweden and Norway. It is now in the collection of Crown Prince Haakon and Crown Princess Mette Marit at Skaugum (fig. 2).

Fig. 1: A photograph of the buildings at Ligarden and Loftsgardene as they are today. DIGI REF: 334D05101 (Lynne, pls crop this comps along the bottom and the left side so that the houses / barns in the centre & upper right are as visible/large as possible.)

Fig. 2: The interior of Skaugum showing the related version of the present work in the Royal Collection. DIGI REF: 357D05101