Oslo, Norway - Vigeland Statue in Frogner Park

Vigeland Sculpture Park is a part of Frogner Park, located in Oslo, Norway, 3 km northwest of the city centre. The park covers 80 acres and features 212 bronze and granite sculptures created by Gustav Vigeland.

Vigeland personally sculpted every figure out of clay and individual craftsmen were contracted to fabricate the pieces into what
they are today. These works of art reside along an 850 meter-long axis divided into six sections: The Main Gate, The Bridge, The Children’s Playground, The Fountain, The Monolith Plateau and the Wheel of Life.

GUSTAV VIGELAND

He was born on the farm Vigeland in Mandal, a small coastal town in the south of Norway, to a family of craftsmen and countrymen. As a youth, he was sent to Oslo where he learned to read and carve wood at a local school. However, the sudden death of his father compelled him to move back to Mandal to help his family.

He returned to Oslo in 1888, this time determined to become a professional sculptor. Vigeland came to the attention of sculptor Bryunjulf Bergslien, who supported him and gave him practical training. The following year he exposed his first work, Hagar and Ishmael.

Vigeland spent the years from 1891 to 1896 in several voyages abroad, including Copenhagen, Paris, Berlin and Florence. In the French capital he frequented Auguste Rodin's workshop, while in Italy he experimented with ancient and Renaissance artworks. In these years the themes that would later dominate his inspiration: the death and the relationship between man and woman first appeared. He held his first personal exhibitions in Norway in 1894 and 1896, which received notable critical praise.

NORWAY'S PRIDE

Until 1902 Vigeland was engaged in the restoration of the Nidaros Cathedral in Trondheim. The contact with Mediaeval art contributed to another frequent theme in Vigeland's art, the dragon as symbol of sin but also as a nature force, fighting against man.

Back in Oslo, he obtained from the town an abandoned studio in which to work. In 1905 Norway became independent from Sweden: Vigeland, considered the most talented Norwegian sculptor, received numerous commissions for statues and busts celebrating renowned compatriots like Henrik Ibsen and Niels Henrik Abel.