The designer of the world’s most famous prize medal (the Nobel Peace award) and Norway’s most visited tourist attraction (the Vigeland installation inside Frogner Park) certainly doesn’t need a lengthy introduction. He does, however, have a museum dedicated to his work in Oslo. The collection consists of over 1,600 sculptures, 12,000 drawings, and 400 woodcuts that were nobly (pun intended) donated to the city of Oslo in 1919. In return, a studio was built for him and served as his primary workshop for almost twenty years until his death in 1943, then turned into the current museum.
Appropriately adjacent to the southern edge of his eponymously named sculpture garden, the Vigeland Museum is a one story collection and description of Gustav Vigeland’s oeuvre as one of the world’s most accomplished artists. The building consists of thirteen rooms on the ground floor of the complex, visited in a clockwise fashion. It encompasses all of his major works, starting with the “Hell” sculpture from 1897. Other, individual works are presented as well, with an emphasis on those that realistically depict the elderly. Room six has an excellent description in English about the functioning of his workshop and the multiple steps it took to create each piece. The design of the Vigeland installation is covered next, with woodcarvings rounding out the experience.
In summary, this was a well done museum that gave me a concise, approachable history of Gustav Vigeland’s life as an artist. Highlights included the description of his artistic technique as described above, and the “Fragments” in room seven that show unfinished projects and his creative process. English signage was adequate; my only small criticism was the lack of an audio guide or mobile app (similar to the National Museum) that could truly enhance the experience. Overall, though, this was a worthy visit and great academic complement to the park. Recommended.