Scandinavian Folk Designs (Dover Pictorial Archive)

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When we say “best Norwegian street art”, we don’t mean someone’s name scrawled onto a wall. We’re talking about massive, colourful murals that take up entire sides of buildings and risqué pictures of the Mona Lisa flashing passersby! “Mona Lisa” street art in Stavanger Modernism, a cultural movement that started at the end of the 19th century, was a break from the Realism that dominated the art world before. Realism’s source was the invention of the photograph and the artist’s desire to produce work that looked “real.” It was, hence, fairly conservative, and the art created in that movement was intended to be truthful and accurate. Modernism was an escape from this rigidity, and a multitude of cultural and aesthetic movements grew from it. Snakehead printed cotton, William Morris, 1876.

A picture of the Oseberg longship; National Library of Norway, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons The brightly coloured floral designs were traditionally used to decorate wooden objects, furniture and household items, as well as in paintings.

Where can you see traditional Scandinavian folk art? 

Picture stone from Tjängvide, Alskog Parish, Gotland, Sweden; Berig, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons The most iconic symbol of Swedish folk art is the Dalahäst or Dala horse, so called because it originated in the Dalarna region of Sweden.

Rosemaling is a relatively young form of folk art, developing in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. It was influenced by other popular European art styles of the time, including Baroque, Regency and Rococo, which is evident in the paintings’ colours and use of “S” and “C” curves. Another example in this style is the Vang Stone located in Vang, which is part of the Valdes region in Norway. It is a large rune stone with red patterns covering most of the surface. Again, we notice the familiar tendril-like, sinuous, patterns with almost hook-like ends intertwining, reminiscent of the Norse knotwork so characteristic of the Viking culture. The top section of the stone’s composition includes the lion-like animal in its heraldic stance with its mouth wide open as if it is roaring. They were both members of “ Kristiania-bohemene” (the Kristiana Bohemians), which was a group of Oslo-based academics, students, artists and writers. Edvard Munch was closely associated with this group for a time, and Christian Krohg acted as his mentor. Oda Krohg, painted by Christian Krohg (CC) and Christian Krohg, painted by Oda Krohg ( CC) The word vikingr is also derived from the word vík meaning “inlet” or “bay” and the suffix – ingr connotes someone who “belongs to” – the meaning can loosely be given that it is someone of the bay, which is where the Vikings were perceived to come from when they crossed the seas to invade new lands. But do you know about the roots of this art form and how it became so popular? What is Scandinavian folk art?

In Denmark, Skønvirke magazine started publishing in 1914. Its content was inspired by old Danish handicrafts and national Romanticism, with international influences appearing in decorations. The word “Skønvirke” became synonymous with Art Nouveau and Jugend. The delicate nature-inspired forms, graceful lines and colors fit the Scandinavian aesthetic well.