Hallo fra Norge! - Norway Day 1

Hello from Norway! Yesterday evening we arrived in Oslo and were greeted with this beautiful rainbow outside of the Radhus (townhall).

Oslo is beautiful in a more cosmopolitan way than Copenhagen or Reykjavik; whereas Copenhagen has the art nouveau-inspired architecture and all of the gorgeous, multi-colored buildings, Oslo has more Parisian architecture and clearly feels like a capital city.

Today was dedicated to the arts!

First, we hit up our Ibsen spots. The National Theater is also a major tram/bus/metro stop, so we headed there first. Here I am with Ibsen himself! The Theater was beautiful, but we weren't allowed to see the stage. The atrium had photos, though, and, although this stage was supposedly created for Ibsen's works, it looks like a normal stage, just larger.

The National Theater tends to favor Norwegian plays and playwrights when choosing each season's line-up. When they do put on works by other playwrights, e.g. - Shakespeare, it is in translation (gasp! Shakespeare in translation!?). On the flip side of the translation coin is my disappointment that they are not putting on any plays in English until September for their Ibsen festival. Oh well, c'est la vie.

A couple blocks away from the National Theater is Ibsen's former apartment, which is now a museum (The Ibsen Museet) dedicated to his life and works. The Ibsen Museet was a treasure trove of information! Learning about artists is so much fun since artists almost always lead crazy lives with tons of neuroses, superstitions and weird, random personality traits. Ibsen does not leave one wanting in any of those categories.

Here is the statue of Ibsen that is located right outside of the museum. He seems like such a jolly fellow! (This statue even kinda makes him look like Jiminy Cricket.) But that would be a false impression. He was incurably grumpy (according to the tour guide).

Ibsen was called "The Sphinx" when he lived in Oslo because he was so mysterious. He didn't like strangers or anyone outside of his immediate family, and he walked around with a crazy bushy beard and wiry hair that sort of mimics the sphinx's headpiece. So, that's cool.

Stop 1: Ibsen's Study

Here we are in Ibsen's study. This picture is taken from behind glass because his wife, Suzannah, insisted that his study remain closed off after Ibsen's death since that is where his ghost resides. Spooky. But not quite as spooky as that humongous portrait hanging on the wall. That is a portrait of August Strindberg, Ibsen's Swedish contemporary. "Oh," you might think, "they must have been really good friends for Ibsen to have such a large portrait in his study." But, there again, you'd be wrong. Ibsen and Strindberg were enemies (Strindberg wrote an essay about A Doll's House in which he called Nora, the protagonist, the devil). So, Ibsen hung this gigantic painting of Strindberg on the wall of his study so that he could feel Strindberg's icy glare on the back of his neck while he worked. Awesome.

Stop 2: The Other Side of Ibsen's Study

The portrait at the center of the photo to the right is Ibsen's son, Sigurd, who became the Prime Minister for a bit when Norway and Sweden were one nation. That itsy bitsy oval frame is a photo of Ibsen's wife, Suzannah. Now here is an interesting lady. Suzannah and Ibsen did not seem to have a terribly strong relationship, as evidenced by the size of that photo, but Suzannah was the inspiration for Nora in A Doll's House and Hedda in Hedda Gabler. Oh! That reminds me. Everyone heralds Ibsen for having written what is by-and-large considered the first feminist play. The guide was very clear, though, that that did not in any way mean that Ibsen himself was a feminist. He was simply a realist playwright who was attempting to capture what he saw in the world around him, and since he didn't seem to want to talk to anyone outside of his immediate family, he portrayed Suzannah's life. Ibsen's female leads are always strong women who long for independence and to control their own lives, but are brought down either by society at large or the manipulative men in their lives. Here's another fun fact about their relationship: each year for Suzannah's birthday, Ibsen would give her a portrait of a Greek writer famous for having been paid to stop writing homoerotic/pornographic works. Every year. That was her only gift. The guide called it an inside joke, but I'm gonna go ahead and guess there are some other implications there.

Stop 3: The Carpet in the Drawing Room

This carpet mimics the original not just for the sake of veracity, but because Ibsen's foot fit perfectly inside the pointy-oval shaped flower thing. Sam's size 9, lady foot busts out of that design, so we're dealing with a tiny man here. The guide said he was approximately 160 centimeters (to which I made an "oh my" face because that was what seemed to be expected of me). Google says that 160 cm. is 5' 3". Oh my! His height is also why he wore a large top hat and high heeled shoes everywhere he went.

Stop 4: Ibsen's Medals

Ibsen apparently did not feel he received all the recognition he was due, so he wrote to several world leaders asking for medals and honors.

The large gold necklace is from the University of Uppsala, which he received along with his honorary doctorate.

The star-shaped medal just below the necklace is from Denmark. What a connection to our previous location!

Another medal is from Turkey, but I don't know which one.

Ibsen's last words were "On the contrary," which he uttered in response to his nurse remarking that he looked much healthier that day. Ibsen's life and works can be summarized with that phrase as well. His works are filled with characters who are forced to deal with contradictions, and Ibsen himself had plenty of them in his own life.

Let's head back outside!

From the Ibsen Museet, you can follow several quotes written in the pavement from Ibsen's various works that lead to his favorite cafe, the Grand Cafe. The staff admired Ibsen, so they set him up with his own table where he wouldn't be disturbed by anyone. Ibsen was a realist writer, so while he may have had a distaste for the company of strangers, he was definitely paying attention to the conversations of everyone around him. While he may have had some eccentricities, Ibsen's works have him solidly placed in the Western literary canon, so it's incredible to be in his hometown and walk where he's walked.

It's time for some visual art!

Oslo is also the home of painter Eduard Munch (pronounced Moonk, who knew!). There is an entire museum dedicated to Munch's works that is a bit off the beaten path. The museum will move to Oslo's inner harbor and be housed inside an architectural wonder in the spring of 2019.

At the Munch museum, there is currently an exhibit of Jasper Johns' work as well, since Johns was heavily influenced by Munch.

Here is a lithograph of the Scream! Pretty sweet. If seeing human angst depicted in a print can be called sweet. :)

Below is one of many of Johns' pieces inspired by Munch's last self portrait (Between the Clock and the Bed). The bedspread in Munch's last self portrait includes this type of line work, which Johns has become famous for. Since we failed to take a photo of Between the Clock and the Bed, here's the museum's website with the image!

Tomorrow... Vikings! (Yet again. They're pretty interesting.)

#HenrikIbsen #AugustStrindberg #Oslo #Norway