National Romantic period in More and Romsdal
This exhibition at the Artmuseum KUBE is the starting point of a project focusing on art and artists from Møre and Romsdal. Art history does not provide much information about 19th century art from the north-western region of Norway. The paintings exhibited here stylistically belong to the Norwegian National Romantic period, lasting from 1840 to 1890.
The theories of the French philosopher Jean Jacques Rousseau (1712-78) made an important impact on the growth and development of the Norwegian National Romantic movement. Rousseau claimed that mankind was contaminated by urbanization and life in the modern city. People were no longer living as natural human beings. To change the conventions that controlled people’s lives, mankind had to retreat to nature and more basic ways of living. Rousseau’s thoughts claimed that human beings remain the same at all times, in spite of changing fashion, culture and etiquette.
Norway had been a province of Denmark for many years, and the fact that Norway got its own constitution on May 17, 1814 was crucial to the development of a new Norwegian identity and an authentically Norwegian culture. In the 19th century the national identity was linked to motives from Norway; especially the Norwegian landscapes. Typical motives of the National Romantic period are mountains, waterfalls, fjords and glaziers, alongside villages and churches and the daily life of farmers and peasants. These motives also characterize our exhibition at KUBE, where either the motives or the artists originate from Møre and Romsdal.
