Frits Thaulow

Frits Thaulow (1847–1906) played a pivotal role in the development of modern art in Norway. His vibrant and colourful plein-air paintings both captivated and shocked the Norwegian art world in the early 1880s.

Thaulow went on to become internationally recognised for his masterful paintings, particularly of moving water. He settled permanently in France in 1892 and became known as the ‘painter of water in motion, winter and night’.

Thaulow was a prolific painter and his art is now held in public and private collections throughout Norway and abroad. The exhibition includes many paintings on loan, and offers a rare opportunity to see them in one place. Several of the paintings have not been shown publicly in Norway for a long time.

Motifs from around the world

The exhibition Frits Thaulow at Kode provides a chronological, broad presentation of Thaulow’s work as a painter, with examples of the most important themes and motifs from his artistic career.

We follow the artist from his training as a marine painter in the 1870s, to becoming Norway’s most passionate plein-air painter in the 1880s, and on to his impressive career in Paris. The exhibition shows how Thaulow was influenced by important artistic movements such as Naturalism, Impressionism, Art Nouveau and Symbolism.

He travelled extensively and painted from a number of Norwegian and European locations, in addition to motifs from his stay in ‘the smokey city’ Pittsburgh in the USA.

Thaulow as a painter of Western Norway

It may come as a surprise that Thaulow also painted Western Norway. He painted several paintings from Jæren early in his career, and he enjoyed a productive stay on the island of Stord in the late 1880s that resulted in a number of beautiful depictions of nature.

Several of these paintings are now being shown together for the first time in this exhibition, in addition to motifs from Bergen.

A new work – The first snow, Stord (1890) – has been acquired by Kode for the occasion and will be shown in Norway for the first time in many years.

Hypnotic river landscapes and a special music programme

Thaulow’s French river landscapes are hypnotically beautiful, and capture the reflections and playful shimmer of the water.

Several of the most striking depictions of rivers are shown in the exhibition, and are placed in the context of the interest that prevailed in movement in art, especially music. Thaulow himself was a keen amateur cellist and counted several composers among his friends. Debussy is even said to have had one of his paintings in his collection.

Kode has developed a special music programme for the exhibition, where visitors can experience the ‘musical’ Thaulow among his art for the first time, featuring both Norwegian and French music.

An important voice in culturalpolitics

Frits Thaulow was a committed champion of art and the freedom of artists, and was an important voice in the cultural discourse of the age. With the help of his wife Alexandra Thaulow, he had a knack for making contacts and building networks that was as masterful as his brushwork.

As one of the most international Norwegian artists of the time, Thaulow participated in the Paris Salon, World Fairs, Venice Biennales and other major international events. In Norway, he was one of the initiators of the annual Høstutstillingen exhibition in 1882 and a leading figure in the campaign to establish the art institution Kunstnernes Hus in Oslo.

Thaulow was a prolific painter and his art is now held in many public and private collections throughout Norway and abroad. A number of the paintings in the exhibition have thus not been shown publicly in Norway for a long time. The painting Winter in Norway (1886) is on loan for the exhibition from the Musée d’Orsay in Paris. The painting was originally purchased by the French government when Thaulow received the Legion of Honour for his contribution to the 1889 Paris Exposition.

Collaboration and book

The exhibition is presented in collaboration with Haugar Art Museum and is curated by Øystein Sjåstad in collaboration with Tove Haugsbø from Kode.

A richly illustrated catalogue is being published in connection with the exhibition, providing an overview and new insights on one of the most significant artistic legacies in Norwegian art history.

The exhibition is supported by the Savings Bank Foundation DNB.

The exhibition is presented in collaboration with Haugar Art Museum.