One of the things we really like about Oslo is that there is an abundance of outdoor art here. (We don’t like all of the art but we like the fact that it’s there!) Many public squares and parks have statues, sculptures and the like. Sometimes the art relates to the place: outside of the National Theatre, for example, is a statue of Norway’s most famous playwright, Henrik Ibsen, and outside of the National Opera is the great opera singer, Kirsten Flagstad. In other places, like Ekeberg, there is simply a collection of various pieces from contemporary artists. So, with much prompting from Norwegians we know, we decided to go to see the Vigeland sculptures.
They are also outside, in Frogner park, which is always open. We finally found where all the people in Oslo are! The installation was created by Gustav Vigeland (born 1869) who began work on it in 1924 and was still at it when he died in 1943. (Aside from the park, he also designed the Nobel Peace Prize medal.) In 1921 the city of Oslo wanted to demolish the house in which Vigeland was living to make way for a library, and after a long dispute, the city gave him a new building in which to live and work near Frogner Park. In exchange he agreed to give all of his subsequent work to the city. The park contains 212 bronze and granite sculptures, and Vigeland also designed the installation itself.
As you enter the park, there are two walkways on either side of a broad boulevard, both of them shaded by tall trees. From the boulevard you look straight ahead over a bridge and then see a gradually rising landscape, with several levels and with sculptures on each. Your eye is inevitably drawn to the obelisk at the highest point.
The first area of sculpture is on and around the bridge. There are four stone pillars at the beginning and end of the bridge, but what dominates the bridge is the series of bronze sculptures that line both sides. These are of individuals and couples, there is a strong family feel to the figures: a father holding a son, a mother tossing a child, a couple kissing. At the end of the bridge is the “Children’s Playground”, eight sculptures of children at play.
Having crossed the bridge you see a bronze group of men in a circle holding an enormous cauldron. Beyond that there are a series of rising terraces, at the top of which is the monolith. Surrounding the monolith is a circular group of 36 figures of men and women of all ages. The monolith itself is pretty amazing: it’s nearly 50 feet high and has 121 entwined figures on it, and the figures all seem to be climbing their way to the top. The information at the park says that it took 3 masons 14 years to carve the entire thing. We especially liked the gates that led to the platform holding the monolith, the first of which shows six male figures and the second six female figures.
Behind the monolith is an astrolabe, with the zodiac figures carved into the base. And finally at the end is the “Wheel of Life”, featuring four adults and two children. From the end you can look back on the splendid view back towards the entrance gates.
Because the sculptures are all nude, there is a timeless feel to the place. And, although there were criticisms early on, the park has become a much-beloved locale for tourists and locals. And we found it surprisingly moving to see the family groupings. Someone told us that Vigeland was attempting to capture what it means to be human. There are certainly an enormous variety of human experiences portrayed here, some of them whimsical and others more troubling. (But that’s on humans, not Vigeland!) We were in the park in the summer, of course, when the sun was shining and flowers were blooming. We suspect that the effect is much starker in the winter, especially given the predominance of the white granite sculptures. Perhaps we’ll have to return some winter to see it for ourselves.
