Jerry Goes to Norway, Part 1 - The Vigeland Bronzes

The world's largest sculpture park devoted to a single artist is in Frogner Park in Oslo, and I spent a full day there in September.  It features the work of Gustav Vigeland, and he planned the landscape as well as creating the sculptures.  They consist of three basic groups: bronzes, granite works, and wrought iron gates.  All of these feature a wide variety of humans of both sexes and all ages, and every one of them is nude.  The reason given for the nudity has been stated as a desire by the artist for them to be timeless and not stuck in period clothes.  The Norwegian government has seen to it that the sculptures are meticulously conserved and the grounds kept immaculate.  

The photos are all mine, except for the aerial shot below.

Today I will post some pictures of the male bronzes from the first portion of the park.  

Later series will feature additional bronzes, granite scuptures, and wrought iron work. 

Gustav Vigeland's self portrait below is somewhat apart from the main area.

 

Lucky Beginning

Near the beginning of the sculpture lined avenue in Frogner Park one finds this statue where one key element is shiny, having lost its patina from being frequently touched.  (See closeup below.)  I asked a male employee of the nearby Vigeland Museum about this, and he told me that visitors, both Norwegians and tourists, touch this fellow for good luck.  The Norwegians even have a catchy descriptor for this in "ta tak i den heldige Kødd," which translated roughtly as "grab the lucky pecker."  Kødd is a slang term which can also mean doing a stupid or outrageous thing.

 

Arms and legs crossed

Both the arms and legs are crossed on this statue found on Frogner's bridge.

 

Grandpa

I couldn't find any mention of this one having been named by the sculptor,

but most moderns refer to it as Grandpa and Toddler.

 

Chest pounder?

Given the atavistic nature of some of the Frogner works,

this might be a man pounding his chest . . . or not.

 

Pair

Quite a few of the bronzes along the entry avenue of the park are matched sets, 

especially on and near the bridge.  This one is one that I like quite a bit.

 

Drop kicking the baby

I have always called this one "Drop Kicking the Baby," and many others interpret it as a commentary harried fathers everywhere.  Mr. Vigeland, however, is said to have referred to it as "Man Under Attack from Genii Spirits."  Either way, it is one of the most dramatic and photographed works in park. I photographed in both the morning and afternoon for the different lighting.

 

Wrestling . . . or something

Here we see one of about a dozen statues in various media scattered around the park where figures 

(both men and women) seem to be wrestling or tossing one another around.

 

Personal favorite

This one is one of my personal favorites, and we get

 a bonus of the harried father in the background.

 

Duo

The locked eyes on this older/younger duo really stood out to me.

 

Uncle Sonny

One of the highlights of my visit to Frogner Park was getting to see this particular statue.  

Ever since I first saw it almost 10 years ago, it has reminded me of the day back on the 

ranch when my Uncle Sonny taught his twin sons to swim in the irrigation pond.  

The guy had a crude, but effective approach to life, and, after a rough start, 

the twins quickly learned to enjoy swimming.  Oh, how I miss that man!

 

Vigeland

In 1921 the City of Oslo took noted sculptor Gustav Vigeland's home and studio to build a new library.  He made a deal with the city in which he received a larger structure near Frogner Park in return for the donation of a large body of work and the installation of a massive outdoor array of work in the park.  Starting in 1924, the area was gradually transformed, finally being completed in 1949, six years after Vigeland's death.  I will be doing a special series on this park in October, 

but we start today's set with two men on a bridge.

 

Father

A lot of the male figures in Vigeland's massive installation are obvious father figures, 

many shown with babies, as above.  One is even juggling several babies while dropkicking 

another.  I'm saving him for the next series, though, so you'll need to be patient.

 

Granite

This is one of the granite sculptures surrounding a monolith 

at the center of the park.  More about that in a bit.

 

Gate

Even the gate panels at one of the park entrances feature nude men.

 

Rear view

Relatively few of the published photos from the park fearture 

rear views of the beefy men.  I'm glad this one did.

 

Monolith

This monolith of human figures tops a small hill in Frogner Park, and it is one of the most frequently commented upon elements of the Vigeland installation.  Having only seen photos up to this point, I can't really argue with that, but I find the bronzes more interesting myself.  A close up is below:

 

Black and White

I had to include this black and white photo of an imposing bronze.

I only wish it were full length.

 

Group

Whoever took this photo managed to get four interesting sculptures in one shot.

 

Nordic in Granite

This man sculpted in granite has a more expected Nordic appearance

than many of Vigeland's more beefy, rounded figures.