Munch, Kittelsen, Tidemann, Gude, J.C. Dahl, Anders Zorn and a number of other Nordic artists. These magnificent works now have a setting they truly deserve.
The art museum is composed of large parts of shipowner Per Grieg Senior's collection of art. Alongside these works are separate exhibits which vary widely in both subject and art form; all set in the idyllic waterfront area and beach known as Mobergsvikjo, with wonderful sculptures and breathtaking views of the Bjørnefjord. Below, Per Grieg Senior himself describes the collection now housed at the art museum in Oseana:
The Grieg Collection
“The Grieg Collection is made up art, mainly pictorial art, owned by the Grieg Foundation and other persons within the Grieg Group. It has taken more than five decades to collect all the different works, and most pieces I have purchased personally. As a result, the collection is quite personal and does not have any overall strategy or boundaries but is rather based on works I find exciting at any given time. One main focus however, from an early stage, has been what is known as the Golden Age of Norwegian painters. This covers art produced by painters born around the mid 19th century.
Among the artists featured are:
- Christian Krohg
- Frits Thaulow
- Eilif Peterssen
- Harald Sohlberg
- Thorvald Erichsen
- Nikolai Astrup
- Ludvig Karsten
- Erik Werenskiold
- Theodor Kittelsen
- Christian Skredsvig
- Edvard Munch.
With the gradual birth of an ambition to compile a kind of miniature national gallery, artists from earlier periods were added to bring both breadth and depth, with names such as: J.C.Dahl, Eckersberg, Flintoe, Tidemand, Gude, Balke and Baade. More contemporary artists include Aulie, Ekeland, Enger, J. Johannessen, Heramb, Karl-Erik Harr, Gullvåg and Per Krohg.
More recently, we have attempted to supplement the collection with a number of West Norwegian artists such as Xan Krohn, Henrik Lund, Knud and Nils Bergslien, Bernt Tunold, Olav and Frida Rusti, Lars Osa and Ingebrigt Vik.
We also wanted to represent our neighbouring nations, Denmark and Sweden, and purchased the works of several painters from Skagen, such as Michael and Anna Ancher, L. Tuxen, wildlife painter Bruno Liljefors, the family romanticist Carl Larsson and Anders Zorn.
Grieg-Gaarden in Bergen
Grieg-Gaarden, the headquarters for the Grieg Group in Bergen, was designed especially to house our collection of art and in many ways is like a small art gallery. Over the years however, our collection outgrew its original home. Today, with the “Grieg Collection” safely housed in Oseana, our collection of art is large enough to adorn both buildings. The employees in the Grieg Group feel a strong sense of ownership to our art collection, and we hope that the people of Os will equally take these beautiful works into their hearts, along with all those who have the pleasure of visiting the magnificent Oseana. By rotating the pieces over the years, visitors will gradually get to know most of the works we have collected.
It is also our hope that the collection will inspire a number of other exhibitions of local, national and international art. We look forward to watching how things develop over the years to come, as different pieces are exhibited and these wonderful works of art become an integral part of Oseana and Os, like some historical footprint. We feel confident that our collection is now safely housed in what must be the most stunning exhibition room in the world.”
Per Grieg Senior 2011