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February 2, 2012

Thursday’s Child: Vigeland Park, Oslo

We’ve visited some great museums on our travels, but we’ve also seen beautiful art in unexpected places.  This month I’m going to share some of the wonderful outdoor art we’ve seen.

Perhaps the photo I led with today can’t be described as beautiful.  Angry Boy is just one of the dozens of sculptures that populate Oslo’s Vigeland Park, the world’s largest sculpture park designed by a single artist.  In the 1920s, noted sculptor Gustav Vigeland was granted a studio in exchange for his promise to donate all of his future work to the city, and Vigeland Park was the result.

The bridge that leads from the main gate to the fountains is lined by nearly sixty sculptures.  Angry Boy is the most famous, his hand honed to a shine by the passersby who touch it for luck. (Anyone who has known a two year old is likely familiar with this pose.)  Two of my favourite sculptures were Little Laughing Girl and Man Lifting Girl With One Arm, both pictured below.  In this section of the park, Vigeland depicted people in relationships and showing emotions.

But the bridge was just the beginning.  Once we crossed it, the park opened into an enormous fountain surrounded by more sculptures depicting the stages of life: childhood, adolescence, adulthood and old age.

The monolith behind the fountain is a 57 foot (17.4 metre) high statue carved from a single granite block.  Vigeland took a year to carve a full-size replica in clay before tackling the granite.  This sculpture depicts a writhing mass of humanity, all apparently struggling to get to the top.  No Happy Little Girl here.

Almost as striking as the sculptures were the gardens and small fountains scattered throughout the park.

We spent a couple of hours strolling through this glorious park, admiring Vigeland’s artwork.  It was truly one of the highlights of Oslo!

Filed Under: Norway

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Janet Johnson says

    February 2, 2012 at 10:24 pm

    Wow. That is an amazing monolith. And yes, I've seen the angry boy look A LOT!

    I'm always amazed by all the places you've been.

    Reply
  2. Gloria says

    February 2, 2012 at 10:32 pm

    Asolutely nice pictures and sculptures, the angry boy make me smile and love little laughing girl:)
    Thanks by sharing

    Reply
  3. Mary says

    February 2, 2012 at 10:41 pm

    The angry boy totally makes me laugh. That monolith is so sad!

    Thanks for the peek into your travels! Have a fabulous day, Beth.

    Reply
  4. cookingmisadventures.com says

    February 2, 2012 at 11:03 pm

    Norway is definitely on our list of places to get to – a big part of Hubs and my heritage. I would love to visit this park. (And yes, the angry boy so reminds me of my two year old!)

    Reply
  5. Jess says

    February 2, 2012 at 11:15 pm

    What a wonderful place to visit! Makes me really see how public art benefits society 🙂 I've always wanted to go to Oslo, ever since reading Roald Dahl's autobiography Boy, and his mention of a grandmother in Oslo.

    Reply
  6. LDH says

    February 2, 2012 at 11:30 pm

    Amazing collection of sculptures and fountains! Thanks for a peek at Oslo!

    Reply
  7. Bonnie says

    February 3, 2012 at 12:01 am

    Each sculpture is amazing. I love the laughing child. I can just imagine a young child being over taken by a belly laugh. Hugs. Bonnie

    Reply
  8. Barbara Jean says

    February 3, 2012 at 12:29 am

    Yikes! That angry baby is something else. I wonder why touching his hand is supposed to be good luck? I would think one of the more cheerful sculptures would be lucky! 🙂

    Reply
  9. Joanne says

    February 3, 2012 at 12:30 am

    Interesting how passersby touch the boy's hand for luck. Oh the magic draw of art …

    Reply
  10. Valerie says

    February 3, 2012 at 1:09 am

    What beautifully, unusual sculptures! (I often strike the same pose as Angry Boy when my cakes fail to come out of their pans.)

    Reply
  11. Beth says

    February 3, 2012 at 1:28 am

    Me too, Valerie!

    Reply
  12. Elaine says

    February 3, 2012 at 2:12 am

    What a fascinating park that must be to see in person! I love the laughing girl sculpture, but I think I love the photo of your daughters holding hands the most.

    Reply
  13. Beth says

    February 3, 2012 at 2:14 am

    I really like that photo too, Elaine! They're such sweet girls and good friends.

    Reply
  14. yummychunklet says

    February 3, 2012 at 2:32 am

    What cute temper-tantrum children statues!

    Reply
  15. Belinda says

    February 3, 2012 at 2:33 am

    What fascinating sculptures! Scandinavian countries really know how to do it.

    Reply
  16. Angie's Recipes says

    February 3, 2012 at 5:38 am

    Fascinating! My favourite would be the opening one..Angry Boy…so vivid.

    Reply
  17. Chiara "Kika" Assi says

    February 3, 2012 at 8:22 am

    What a wonderful post! Oslo in on my list of places to visit soon… and it's funny that you opened your post with a picture of the Angry Boy. When I was little and my dad went to Oslo on a business trip he sent me a postcard of that very same statue 🙂

    Reply
  18. Rita says

    February 3, 2012 at 12:17 pm

    Fantastic!So much talent here. Thank you for sharing Olso with us.
    Rita

    Reply
  19. Aarthi says

    February 3, 2012 at 2:55 pm

    They look amazing

    Aarthi
    http://www.yummytummyaarthi.com/

    Reply
  20. Pam says

    February 3, 2012 at 4:09 pm

    They are all excellent sculptures.

    Reply
  21. Carol says

    February 3, 2012 at 4:24 pm

    These are fantastic sculptures. What a wonderful place to visit!

    Reply
  22. Claudia says

    February 3, 2012 at 4:47 pm

    I love sculpture parks – there's something so winsome about art and nature living together. The theme of this park is so beautiful – and how grand to have it all by one artist.

    Reply
  23. Charlie Holmberg says

    February 3, 2012 at 8:58 pm

    Writhing mass of humanity. Nice. 😉

    Reply
  24. Jemi Fraser says

    February 4, 2012 at 6:23 pm

    Wow! What an amazing talent! Thanks for sharing 🙂

    Reply
  25. bakewithjill.com says

    February 5, 2012 at 1:44 am

    I love fountains, so I think they'd be the highlight of my visit, but Angry Boy is pretty fun too!

    Reply
  26. Miriam says

    February 5, 2012 at 8:10 am

    You've been to some very interesting places :), Miriam@Meatless Meals For Meat Eaters

    Reply
  27. Stina Lindenblatt says

    February 5, 2012 at 8:10 am

    LOL I'm not even sure what to say about those.

    I would love to go to Olso. Norway is the one Scandinavian country I haven't been to.

    Reply

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Welcome to Of Muses and Meringues. Thanks for stopping by! I am Beth! Writer, traveller, baker, mother.
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