Håkon Bleken
Encyclopedia
Håkon Ingvald Bleken is a Norwegian painter
and graphic artist
.
in Oslo
under professor Jean Heiberg from 1949 to 1952. In 1950 he participated in the etching
class at the Norwegian National Academy of Craft and Art Industry
under Chrix Dahl. From 1953 to 1954 he was a student at Statens Sløyd- og Tegnelærerskole in Notodden
.
Bleken worked as a senior scientific officer at the Institute of Form and Colour Studies at the Norwegian Institute of Technology
from 1960 to 1972.
, Hedda Gabler
by Henrik Ibsen
and The Trial
by Franz Kafka
are all works that are often seen in his production. Human suffering and social activism are themes often depicted in Bleken's works.
Bleken has painted several well known people, among them Olav V of Norway
and Arne Nordheim
.
Bleken is also known as an illustrator of literary works. He has illustrated such works as Hedda Gabler
by Henrik Ibsen
, Haugtussa
by Arne Garborg
, Mysteries
by Knut Hamsun
, Babette's Feast by Karen Blixen
and Dalen Portland by Kjartan Fløgstad
.
, since his debut in 1951. His works have also been bought for several art collections in Norway, among them those of the National Museum of Norway, Norsk Hydro
and Statoil
.
Bleken has contributed to the embellishment of buildings such as St. Olav Cathedral, E. C. Dahls Brewery
, Tyholttårnet
and Olavshallen in Trondheim
, the local church in Spjelkavik
, Oslo Concert Hall
, Oslo Central Station and the Norwegian Parliament Building
, all in Norway.
and one self-portrait
, were all made by Bleken himself, with the exception of the painting Hjortedansøsen by the Norwegian painter Arthur Alstad. The paintings have an estimated collective value of 2,000,000 NOK
, of which Hjortedansøsen alone has an estimated value of 250,000 NOK. The paintings were retrieved by the police on December 28, when they were found rolled up in a small storage room in Heimdal
.
has promoted Bleken to Commander of the same order "for his work as an artist". In 2005 he was awarded Anders Jahre's culture prize. The regional newspaper Adresseavisen
pronounced Bleken "Trønder of the year" in 2003. He has also been awarded several other minor culture prizes.
Painting
Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a surface . The application of the medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush but other objects can be used. In art, the term painting describes both the act and the result of the action. However, painting is...
and graphic artist
Graphic arts
A type of fine art, graphic art covers a broad range of art forms. Graphic art is typically two-dimensional and includes calligraphy, photography, drawing, painting, printmaking, lithography, typography, serigraphy , and bindery. Graphic art also consists of drawn plans and layouts for interior...
.
Education and work as an artist
Bleken started his art education at Trondheim art school, where he studied under Karsten Keiseraas and Oddvar Alstad from 1948 to 1949. He then studied at the Norwegian National Academy of Fine ArtsNorwegian National Academy of Fine Arts
The Norwegian National Academy of Fine Arts is a Norwegian university offering studies in the areas of specialization painting, photography / video / film, digital art, sound art, sculpture, installation, performance art, and art theory.-History:...
in Oslo
Oslo
Oslo is a municipality, as well as the capital and most populous city in Norway. As a municipality , it was established on 1 January 1838. Founded around 1048 by King Harald III of Norway, the city was largely destroyed by fire in 1624. The city was moved under the reign of Denmark–Norway's King...
under professor Jean Heiberg from 1949 to 1952. In 1950 he participated in the etching
Etching
Etching is the process of using strong acid or mordant to cut into the unprotected parts of a metal surface to create a design in intaglio in the metal...
class at the Norwegian National Academy of Craft and Art Industry
Norwegian National Academy of Craft and Art Industry
The Norwegian National Academy of Craft and Art Industry was established in 1818.In 1996 the National Academy of Craft and Art Industry became part of Oslo National Academy of the Arts .-Noted alumni:-External links:*...
under Chrix Dahl. From 1953 to 1954 he was a student at Statens Sløyd- og Tegnelærerskole in Notodden
Notodden
is a town and municipality in Telemark county, Norway. It is part of the traditional region of Øst-Telemark. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Notodden....
.
Bleken worked as a senior scientific officer at the Institute of Form and Colour Studies at the Norwegian Institute of Technology
Norwegian Institute of Technology
The Norwegian Institute of Technology, known by its Norwegian abbrevation NTH was a science institute in Trondheim, Norway. It was established in 1910, and existed as an independent technical university for 85 years, after which it was merged into the University of Trondheim as an independent...
from 1960 to 1972.
Regarding Bleken's productions
A series of coal sketches called Fragmenter av et diktatur (Fragments of a dictatorship) from 1971 was his definitive breakthrough as an artist. Bleken is known for basing his paintings on literary works; Doctor Faustus by Thomas MannThomas Mann
Thomas Mann was a German novelist, short story writer, social critic, philanthropist, essayist, and 1929 Nobel Prize laureate, known for his series of highly symbolic and ironic epic novels and novellas, noted for their insight into the psychology of the artist and the intellectual...
, Hedda Gabler
Hedda Gabler
Hedda Gabler is a play first published in 1890 by Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen. The play premiered in 1891 in Germany to negative reviews, but has subsequently gained recognition as a classic of realism, nineteenth century theatre, and world drama...
by Henrik Ibsen
Henrik Ibsen
Henrik Ibsen was a major 19th-century Norwegian playwright, theatre director, and poet. He is often referred to as "the father of prose drama" and is one of the founders of Modernism in the theatre...
and The Trial
The Trial
The Trial is a novel by Franz Kafka, first published in 1925. One of Kafka's best-known works, it tells the story of a man arrested and prosecuted by a remote, inaccessible authority, with the nature of his crime revealed neither to him nor the reader.Like Kafka's other novels, The Trial was never...
by Franz Kafka
Franz Kafka
Franz Kafka was a culturally influential German-language author of short stories and novels. Contemporary critics and academics, including Vladimir Nabokov, regard Kafka as one of the best writers of the 20th century...
are all works that are often seen in his production. Human suffering and social activism are themes often depicted in Bleken's works.
Bleken has painted several well known people, among them Olav V of Norway
Olav V of Norway
Olav V was the king of Norway from 1957 until his death. A member of the House of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg, Olav was born in the United Kingdom as the son of King Haakon VII of Norway and Queen Maud of Norway...
and Arne Nordheim
Arne Nordheim
Arne Nordheim was a Norwegian composer who had since 1982 been living in the Norwegian State's honorary residence, Grotten, next to the Royal Palace in Oslo. Nordheim received numerous prizes for his compositions, and was elected an honorary member of the International Society for Contemporary...
.
Bleken is also known as an illustrator of literary works. He has illustrated such works as Hedda Gabler
Hedda Gabler
Hedda Gabler is a play first published in 1890 by Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen. The play premiered in 1891 in Germany to negative reviews, but has subsequently gained recognition as a classic of realism, nineteenth century theatre, and world drama...
by Henrik Ibsen
Henrik Ibsen
Henrik Ibsen was a major 19th-century Norwegian playwright, theatre director, and poet. He is often referred to as "the father of prose drama" and is one of the founders of Modernism in the theatre...
, Haugtussa
Haugtussa
Haugtussa is an epic circle of poems, written by the Norwegian author Arne Garborg. The poems are reckoned a classical example of Norwegian Neo-romanticism or Symbolism. The themes of the poems are closely related to Garborg's rural background, and a number of supernatural beings, like the draug,...
by Arne Garborg
Arne Garborg
Arne Garborg, born Aadne Eivindsson Garborg was a Norwegian writer.Garborg championed the use of Landsmål , as a literary language; he translated the Odyssey into it...
, Mysteries
Mysteries (novel)
Mysteries is a novel by Norwegian author Knut Hamsun.-Plot introduction:In this intensely psychological Modernist novel, the community of a small Norwegian coastal town is "[shaken]" by the arrival of eccentric stranger Johan Nagel...
by Knut Hamsun
Knut Hamsun
Knut Hamsun was a Norwegian author, who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1920. He was praised by King Haakon VII of Norway as Norway's soul....
, Babette's Feast by Karen Blixen
Karen Blixen
Baroness Karen von Blixen-Finecke , , née Karen Christenze Dinesen, was a Danish author also known by her pen name Isak Dinesen. She also wrote under the pen names Osceola and Pierre Andrézel...
and Dalen Portland by Kjartan Fløgstad
Kjartan Fløgstad
Kjartan Fløgstad is a Norwegian author. Fløgstad studied literature and linguistics at the University of Bergen. Subsequently he worked for a period as an industrial worker and as a sailor before he debuted as a poet with his collection of poems titled Valfart in 1968...
.
Exhibitions and embellishments (a selection)
As one of Norway's most prominent contemporary artists he has had a series of separate exhibitions in the country's biggest galleries, among them the National Museum of Norway and the Henie-Onstad Art CentreHenie-Onstad Art Centre
The Henie-Onstad Art Centre is an art museum located at Høvikodden in Bærum municipality, Norway.The Henie-Onstad Art Centre is situated on a headland jutting into the Oslofjord, approximately 10 km south of Oslo...
, since his debut in 1951. His works have also been bought for several art collections in Norway, among them those of the National Museum of Norway, Norsk Hydro
Norsk Hydro
Norsk Hydro ASA is a Norwegian aluminium and renewable energy company, headquartered in Oslo. Hydro is the fourth largest integrated aluminium company worldwide. It has operations in some 40 countries around the world and is active on all continents. The Norwegian state holds a 43.8 percent...
and Statoil
Statoil
Statoil ASA is a Norwegian petroleum company established in 1972. It merged with Norsk Hydro in 2007 and was known as StatoilHydro until 2009, when the name was changed back to Statoil ASA. The brand Statoil was retained as a chain of fuel stations owned by StatoilHydro...
.
Bleken has contributed to the embellishment of buildings such as St. Olav Cathedral, E. C. Dahls Brewery
E. C. Dahls Brewery
E.C. Dahls Brewery is a brewery and soft drink factory based in Trondheim, Norway.-History:E.C. Dahls Brewery was founded in 1856 by Erich Christian Dahl , a local businessman and consul-general from Trondheim. He was the son of Erich Dahl Christine Lyche...
, Tyholttårnet
Tyholttårnet
Tyholttårnet is a 124 metre high radio tower with an observation deck at Trondheim, Norway. Tyholttårnet was built in 1985. The tower features a revolving restaurant, 80 metres up, which makes one complete revolution per hour.-External links:...
and Olavshallen in Trondheim
Trondheim
Trondheim , historically, Nidaros and Trondhjem, is a city and municipality in Sør-Trøndelag county, Norway. With a population of 173,486, it is the third most populous municipality and city in the country, although the fourth largest metropolitan area. It is the administrative centre of...
, the local church in Spjelkavik
Spjelkavik
Spjelkavik is part of the town of Ålesund in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway—it is also called "Vika" by many locals. Spjelkavik is located on the island of Oksenøya, at the intersection of the highways and , just west of the lake Brusdalsvatnet. The villages of Breivika, Myrland, and...
, Oslo Concert Hall
Oslo Concert Hall
Oslo Concert Hall is a concert hall located in Vika, a part of Oslo city centre in Norway. It is the base of the Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra , but it also aims to be one of the premier music venues for the general musical and cultural life of Norway, offering a broad variety of musical styles from...
, Oslo Central Station and the Norwegian Parliament Building
Parliament of Norway Building
The Parliament of Norway Building is the seat of the Parliament of Norway, located in central Oslo. The building is located at Karl Johans gate 22 and was taken into use on 5 March 1866...
, all in Norway.
Theft
In December 2010 thieves broke into Bleken's storage room and stole nine of his paintings, seven of which were cut out of their frames in such a manner that they were badly damaged. The paintings, which included a portrait of Arne NordheimArne Nordheim
Arne Nordheim was a Norwegian composer who had since 1982 been living in the Norwegian State's honorary residence, Grotten, next to the Royal Palace in Oslo. Nordheim received numerous prizes for his compositions, and was elected an honorary member of the International Society for Contemporary...
and one self-portrait
Self-portrait
A self-portrait is a representation of an artist, drawn, painted, photographed, or sculpted by the artist. Although self-portraits have been made by artists since the earliest times, it is not until the Early Renaissance in the mid 15th century that artists can be frequently identified depicting...
, were all made by Bleken himself, with the exception of the painting Hjortedansøsen by the Norwegian painter Arthur Alstad. The paintings have an estimated collective value of 2,000,000 NOK
Norwegian krone
The krone is the currency of Norway and its dependent territories. The plural form is kroner . It is subdivided into 100 øre. The ISO 4217 code is NOK, although the common local abbreviation is kr. The name translates into English as "crown"...
, of which Hjortedansøsen alone has an estimated value of 250,000 NOK. The paintings were retrieved by the police on December 28, when they were found rolled up in a small storage room in Heimdal
Heimdal
Heimdal is the southernmost borough in Trondheim, Norway named after the god Heimdall in Norse mythology. The area has been continuously inhabited since at least the Iron Age, and is rich in archaeological sites....
.
Awards
In 1990 Bleken was awarded Knight, First Class of the Royal Norwegian Order of St. Olav. On September 4, 2009 the Norwegian Royal Court announced that Harald V of NorwayHarald V of Norway
Harald V is the king of Norway. He succeeded to the throne of Norway upon the death of his father Olav V on 17 January 1991...
has promoted Bleken to Commander of the same order "for his work as an artist". In 2005 he was awarded Anders Jahre's culture prize. The regional newspaper Adresseavisen
Adresseavisen
Adresseavisen is a regional newspaper published daily, except Sundays, in Trondheim, Norway. It is an independent, conservative newspaper with a daily circulation of approximately 85,000. It is also informally known as Adressa. The newspaper covers the areas of Trøndelag and Nordmøre.Adresseavisen...
pronounced Bleken "Trønder of the year" in 2003. He has also been awarded several other minor culture prizes.