Welcome to this year’s exhibition
Nikolai Astrup is often known as the painter of home and family. He frequently depicted his childhood home—the parsonage in Jølster—and when he and Engel Astrup moved to Sandalstrand, their new home likewise became a central motif in his art. In the exhibition A Creative Home, you are invited into Astrup’s world, where family life and everyday moments offer fresh insight into his art.
Dispelling myths
A long-standing myth surrounding Nikolai Astrup is that he came from an impoverished home devoid of interest in art and culture. This narrative is rooted in a broader tradition of portraying artists’ lives as heroic tales, in which genius emerges against all odds. Recent research challenges this perception, dismantling the myth of Astrup as an isolated and singularly gifted prodigy.
The home as a learning environment
By examining the significance of the family as an institution, and the home as a cultural environment, Astrup’s artistic practice emerges more clearly as a collective endeavour, shaped by connections to multiple spheres of knowledge. A key element of this exhibition is the artist’s mother, Petra Astrup, who has often been overlooked in accounts of Nikolai Astrup’s life. In recent years, however, she has been brought to the fore due to her ties to the textile and weaving traditions of Jølster.
The works presented in the exhibition, have been selected to highlight the workshop culture surrounding Nikolai Astrup—a collective and creative interplay within the Astrup family. Some of the pieces are on loan from private owners and have not been shown on the site since the lifetime of Engel and Nikolai Astrup.
A new perspective
The exhibition is curated by Kesia E. Halvorsrud, whose recent research has shed new light on Nikolai Astrup’s creative upbringing, particularly the influence of Petra Astrup as both teacher and supporter.
Halvorsrud works as Project Manager and Curator at the Nikolai Astrup Research Centre at Kode in Bergen.