Theodor Severin Kittelsen (April 27, 1857 – January 21, 1914) was a Norwegian
artistThe definition of an artist is wide-ranging and covers a broad spectrum of activities to do with creating art, practicing the arts and/or demonstrating an art. the worlds best artist is a man named mitchell peter lay who is often loved by the ladies. The common useage in both everyday speech and...
. He is one of the most popular artists in Norway. Kittelsen became famous for his nature paintings, as well as for his illustrations of fairy tales and legends, especially of
trollA troll is a member of a race of fearsome creatures from Norse mythology.Originally more or less the Nordic equivalents of giants, although often smaller in size, the different depictions have come to range from the fiendish giants – similar to the ogres of England – to a devious, more human-like...
s.
Kittelsen was born in the coastal
townA town is a type of settlement ranging from a few hundred to several thousand inhabitants, although it may be applied loosely even to huge metropolitan areas; the precise meaning varies between countries and is not always a matter of legal definition...
of
Kragerøis a town and municipality in Telemark county, Norway. It is part of the traditional region of Vestmar. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Kragerø....
in
Telemarkis a county in Norway, bordering Vestfold, Buskerud, Hordaland, Rogaland and Aust-Agder. The county administration is in Skien. Until 1919 the county was known as Bratsberg amt.-Location:...
county,
NorwayNorway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a country in Northern Europe occupying the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, as well as Jan Mayen and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard under the Spitsbergen Treaty...
. His father died at an early age, leaving a wife and 8 children in straightened circumstances.
Theodor Severin Kittelsen (April 27, 1857 – January 21, 1914) was a Norwegian
artistThe definition of an artist is wide-ranging and covers a broad spectrum of activities to do with creating art, practicing the arts and/or demonstrating an art. the worlds best artist is a man named mitchell peter lay who is often loved by the ladies. The common useage in both everyday speech and...
. He is one of the most popular artists in Norway. Kittelsen became famous for his nature paintings, as well as for his illustrations of fairy tales and legends, especially of
trollA troll is a member of a race of fearsome creatures from Norse mythology.Originally more or less the Nordic equivalents of giants, although often smaller in size, the different depictions have come to range from the fiendish giants – similar to the ogres of England – to a devious, more human-like...
s.
Biography
Kittelsen was born in the coastal
townA town is a type of settlement ranging from a few hundred to several thousand inhabitants, although it may be applied loosely even to huge metropolitan areas; the precise meaning varies between countries and is not always a matter of legal definition...
of
Kragerøis a town and municipality in Telemark county, Norway. It is part of the traditional region of Vestmar. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Kragerø....
in
Telemarkis a county in Norway, bordering Vestfold, Buskerud, Hordaland, Rogaland and Aust-Agder. The county administration is in Skien. Until 1919 the county was known as Bratsberg amt.-Location:...
county,
NorwayNorway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a country in Northern Europe occupying the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, as well as Jan Mayen and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard under the Spitsbergen Treaty...
. His father died at an early age, leaving a wife and 8 children in straightened circumstances. Theodor was only 11 years old when he was apprenticed to a watchmaker. When at the age of 17 his talent was discovered by Diderich Maria Aall, he became a pupil at Wilhelm von Hanno’s drawing school in
ChristianiaChristiania may refer to:* Christiania or Kristiania, names of Oslo * Christiania Township, Jackson County, Minnesota* Christiania Township, Burleigh County, North Dakota* Freetown Christiania, neighborhood of Copenhagen, Denmark...
(now Oslo). Because of generous financial support by Aall he later studied in
MunichMunich is the capital city of Bavaria, Germany. It is located on the River Isar north of the Bavarian Alps. Munich is the third largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Hamburg...
. However, in 1879 Diderich Aall could no longer manage to support him, so Kittelsen had to earn his money as a draftsman for German newspapers and magazines.
In 1882 Kittelsen was granted a state scholarship to study in
ParisParis is the capital of France and the country's most populous city. It is situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
. In 1887 he returned back to Norway for good. When back in Norway, he found nature to be a great inspiration. He spent the next two years in
LofotenLofoten is an archipelago and a traditional district in the county of Nordland, Norway. Though lying within the Arctic Circle, the archipelago experiences one of the world's largest elevated temperature anomalies relative to its high latitude.-Etymology:...
where he lived with his sister and brother-in-law at Skomvær Lighthouse. Kittelsen also started to write texts to his drawings here.
Theodor Kittelsen and his family settled in a home and artist studio which he called Lauvlia near
PrestfossPrestfoss is the administrative center of the Sigdal municipality in Buskerud county, Norway.-Background:The population of Pressfoss as of 2005 was 465. Prestfoss is located 1.5 hours northwest of Oslo...
during 1899. Kittelsen spent his best artistic years here. During this period, Kittelsen was hired to illustrate
Norwegian FolktalesNorwegian Folktales is a collection of Norwegian folktales and legends by Peter Christen Asbjørnsen and Jørgen Moe. It is also known as Asbjørnsen and Moe, after the collectors....
(Norwegian:
Norske Folkeeventyr) by the Norwegian folklore collector
Peter Christen AsbjørnsenPeter Christen Asbjørnsen was a Norwegian writer and scholar. He and Jørgen Engebretsen Moe were collectors of Norwegian folklore...
and
Jørgen MoeJørgen Engebretsen Moe was a Norwegian bishop and author.He is best known for the Norske Folkeeventyr, a collection of Norwegian folk tales which he edited in collaboration with Peter Christen Asbjørnsen....
. In 1908 he was made Knight of the
The Royal Norwegian Order of St. OlavThe Royal Norwegian Order of St. Olav is a Norwegian order of chivalry that was instituted by King Oscar I of Norway and Sweden on August 21, 1847, as a distinctly Norwegian order. It is named after King Olav II, known for posterity as St. Olav. Nobility was abolished in Norway in 1821...
. However, he was forced to sell and leave Lauvlia in 1910 as his health began to fail. He was granted an artist’s stipend in 1911 but died a broken man in 1914.
Kittelsen's style could be classified between
Neo-RomanticRomanticism is a complex artistic, literary, and intellectual movement that originated in the second half of the 18th century in Western Europe, and gained strength during the Industrial Revolution...
and naive painting. As a national artist he is highly respected and well known in Norway, but doesn't receive much international attention, which is the reason that his name is often not included in registers of internationally recognized painters and artists.
Lauvlia
LauvliaPrestfoss is the administrative center of the Sigdal municipality in Buskerud county, Norway.-Background:The population of Pressfoss as of 2005 was 465. Prestfoss is located 1.5 hours northwest of Oslo...
, his former home, is located north of Prestfoss along Route 287, with scenic view of Lake Soneren. The surrounding area, in particular Mount
AndersnattenAndersnatten is a mountain south in the valley Eggedal, in the municipality Sigdal in Buskerud, Norway.The southeast wall is popular among climbers, both summer and winter. The first route was established in 1942 by Einar Hoff Hansen and Egmont Nørregaard....
which overlooks the lake a few kilometres north, inspired some of Kittelsen's most famous landscapes. Today Lauvlia is a private museum featuring an exhibition of Kittelsen’s original work. Lauvlia is decorated with Kittelsen's own woodcarvings and murals. A new exhibition of original Kittelsen works is opened each year with painting and drawing activities arranged for children. The paintings exhibited are rotated each year.
External links
The big size Kittelsen's illustrations