And there's more — An Elegant Sufficiency

Had we been able to come back another day, then there’s no question. That’s what we would have done. But, we couldn’t leave without seeing some of the rest of the collection, so fortified with ginger beer and cinnamon buns we set off to take a rather less detailed look at the other floors of the museum.

The first room we stepped in captivated us immediately. The Fairy Tale room was the perfect place to begin because Norway’s culture is so rich in myth and legend. Here we found trolls, fairies, princesses and, my favourite. Reminiscent of - but rather less cute than - Raymond Briggs’ Fungus the Bogeyman in my mind! By the same artist, The Ash Lad was another favourite in here and reading a little more about Theodor Kittelsen on the website, the subjects for his work were clearly influenced by the times in which he lived. How about this one?

On we went, working our way around the rooms with no particular plan or route. If we saw something we liked or that caught our eye, then we went for a closer look. Occasionally we’d go off in different directions but somehow never lost one another - that’s what being together for 45 years does!!

The museum website is so good that rather than share my snaps of paintings, I’ll share those details that impressed us most.

Firstly, the galleries are spacious and each painting has room to breathe. Not only that, but some exhibits are shown beyond the gallery walls, including this eye-catching figure which seems to want to come in from the cold.

I was especially impressed by these benches, to be found in almost every room. Each one had the upholstered section and the plain wooden part designed for anyone who might appreciate the arm for ease of use.

The other end had a box of tricks specifically related to the content of the room. At first, I thought this was just for children, offering activities to involve them in the works on show but a closer look revealed they were far more than that. This particular box had details in Braille on the wooden tablets but also some particular images taken from the work on show. There were shapes to fit in the panels here too - yes, child-oriented in one respect, but actually, quite fun for us all to complete. In other rooms, there were transparencies allowing alternative backgrounds or characters to include in a work, or colour-related activities. Each one was fully accessible and so cleverly designed to enrich any visit.

I made a note of Alf Rolfsen’s The Railway Station in my little book too. Another new name for me to find out about.

The modern galleries held our attention for barely any time at all, though the notes alongside Total Revolution made for interesting reading, making the point that although it looks spontaneous it was digitised, a stencil was laser cut and the image was carefully recreated on the gallery wall. Is this the way art is moving?

I very much enjoyed the contents of the room with the theme of Nordic Light, especially the work of Gustav Wentzel. His Morning Mood above is one of those images that has so many stories to tell.

Then there is Albertine. The artist Christian Krohg’s name was upon several of the works in the Nordic Light room and here it was again in a rather darker context. With a bench pulled up with in front of this particular painting and several people paying special attention to it, I guessed there was more to it than meets the eye. Well worth reading about it here.

The next room was devoted to the work of a single artist and the image which caught my eye was this one, entitled “self portrait with cigarette”. I wondered, how could one possibly paint a self portrait and look quite so surprised?

Have you guessed who it is yet?

Well, we’d not made it to the Munch museum across the harbour, but we got to see “a Scream” - or is it “The Scream” anyway. We’re neither of us great fans of his work and I had seen quite a range of it in an exhibition in Zürich some years ago. Nevertheless, it felt right that we had at least seen his best known work whilst in the city.

From here we found ourselves in the rooms showing the Annual Crafts Exhibition, amongst some remarkable pieces of craftsmanship. I immediately spotted this great knot…(understatement!)

It’s a little more than a half hitch though and quite a magnificent work shown to equally magnificent effect here in the corner of the gallery.

Though the foundation of this piece was interesting, it was really the meticulous presentation and workmanship that appealed to me rather than the concept, which I can’t help but feel has been done before? Nevertheless, the precision was remarkable.

By now, we really were flagging a little and it was only the colour and forms of the figures in the next rooms that caught my eye enough to make an effort to take a closer look. Two Queens Meet was the title of the exhibit and indeed there were dresses from two very distinctly different eras, even if I managed to capture just one of them with my camera.

Finally, we simply couldn’t leave without taking a (quick) look through the rooms filled with Nordic designs. So many familiar items here including one which we surely still own - but where?

By now it was late afternoon and we’d had a great day here. There was still more - rooms of medieval ecclesiastical art, of ceramics from East Asia and 18th century paintings for example.