NORWAY - Scandinavia - page 409

Johan Christian Dahl — View of Fortundalen (1836): This painting
epitomizes the Norwegian closeness to nature. It shows a view similar to the
one that 21st-century travelers enjoy on their Norway in a Nutshell excur-
sion (see here ) : mountains, rivers, and a waterfall. Painted in 1836, it's text-
book Romantic style. Nature rules—the background is as detailed as the fore-
ground, and you are sucked in.
Johan Christian Dahl (1788-1857) is considered the father of Norwegian
Romanticism. Romantics such as Dahl (and Turner, Beethoven, and Lord
Byron) put emotion over rationality. They reveled in the power of
nature—death and pessimism ripple through their work. The birch
tree—standing boldly front and center—is a standard symbol for the politic-
ally downtrodden Norwegian people: hardy, cut down, but defiantly sprout-
ing new branches. In the mid-19th century, Norwegians were awakening
to their national identity. Throughout Europe, nationalism and Romanticism
went hand in hand.
Find the typical Norse farm with its haystacks looking like rune stones. It
reminds us that these farmers are hardworking, independent, small landown-
ers. There was no feudalism in medieval Norway. People were poor...but they
owned their own land. You can almost taste the geitost.
• Look at the other works in Rooms L and M. Dahl's paintings and those by
his Norwegian contemporaries, showing heavy clouds and glaciers, repeat
these same themes—drama over rationalism, nature pounding humanity. Hu-
man figures are melancholy. Norwegians, so close to nature, are fascinated
by those plush, magic hours of dawn and twilight. The dusk makes us wonder:
What will the future bring?
In particular, focus on the painting to the left of the door in Room L.
Dahl — Hellefossen near Hokksund (1838): Another typical Dahl set-
ting: romantic nature and an idealized scene. A fisherman checks on wooden
baskets designed to catch salmon migrating up the river. In the background, a
water-powered sawmill slices trees into lumber. Note another Dahl birch tree
at the left, a subtle celebration of the Norwegian people and their labor.
• Now continue into Room M. At the far end is...