Hans Gjesme - Highlights

Highlights from 1917 to 1993

The artist Hans Gjesme (1904-1994) from Lærdal created art from the age of 13 until he was 89. He started early with drawing and watercolors. In the 1920s, his father paid for him to study with Paul Gauguin (1883–1961) in Kristiania, André Lhote (1885–1962) in Paris, and Axel Revold (1887–1962) in Oslo.

Gjesme lived mainly in Lærdal, but also spent long periods in Oslo. Most of his motifs are therefore from there, but also from study trips to Paris and Røros.

The artist depicted landscapes and nature in all seasons, but also houses and city life. He painted portraits of relatives and acquaintances, both on his own initiative and on commission. He also worked with still lifes, nudes, and interiors. He depicted people at work both at home in Lærdal and at Gaustad Psychiatric Hospital, where he was admitted for 16 years. There he also portrayed how he experienced his fellow patients and his own illness and loneliness.

Gjesme was not part of an artistic group, but one could say that he was a “Vestland painter.” Painting and drawing were his main media, but he also worked with plaster sculpture and graphic art. His style developed from detailed naturalism in his youth, via late Impressionism influenced by Gauguin in the early 1920s, to a slightly Cubist style inspired by Lhote from 1925. Revold's guidance in the fall and winter of 1928–1929 led Gjesme to adopt a more simplified style with more stylized figures.

In his drawings from his time at Gaustad Hospital, Gjesme retained the same steady line and sense of detail as before, while in his paintings he worked with stronger colors and color combinations than before and in an increasingly simplified and expressive style. In many works from the Gaustad period, Gjesme can be described as a late expressionist. During his long artistic career, one can therefore say that he explored most of the styles within modernism. Towards the end of his stay and after Gaustad, his expression became even more dissolved – and at times marked by tremors – due to years of strong medication.

With this exhibition, we want to showcase some of the most beautiful and interesting works Gjesme created over 76 years. The Gjesme collection is large, so many pieces will have to wait for another opportunity.