1860 -1935 · Bohemia of Kristiania, portrait and neo-romanticism

Oda Krohg unites independence and intimacy: frank portraits, bold framing and bright summer nights bring modern everyday life into Norwegian painting.

Born Othilia Lasson in Âsgårdstrand in 1860 and raised in Kristiania in an intellectual environment, Oda Krohg chose painting while training accessible to women remained rare. Separated from her first husband and mother of two children, in 1884 she became a student of Christian Krohg, who provided her with most of her formal learning. Their artistic and personal relationship developed at the heart of Kristiania's bohemia, a movement which challenged social conventions and bourgeois morality; They married in 1888. Oda Krohg painted his loved ones, his children, artists and committed women, but his models were never simple domestic accessories. Views close together, steep cuts and high viewpoints give their gestures a new autonomy. The Japanese Lantern, a pastel from 1886, combines clear northern night, artificial light and composition inspired by Japonism; this image helps introduce neo-romanticism to Norway. Between Kristiania and several stays in Paris, Krohg maintains an independent activity while participating keenly in the debates of his time. His relatively narrow work, long eclipsed by his role as muse, today regains its place in the history of Norwegian modernity. His relatively narrow work, long eclipsed by his role as muse, today regains its place in the history of Norwegian modernity. His relatively narrow work, long eclipsed by his role as muse, finds its place in the history of Norwegian modernity. His relatively narrow work, long eclipsed by his role as muse, today finds its place in the history of Norwegian modernity. His relatively narrow work, long eclipsed by his role as muse, today finds its place in the history of Norwegian modernity. His relatively narrow work, long eclipsed by his role as muse, today finds its place in the history of Norwegian modernity. His relatively narrow work, long eclipsed by his role as muse, today finds its place in the history of story.

Oda Krohg looks closely without locking up: the light of a lantern, an absorbed child or a determined face each open up a space of freedom.