ArtistNorwegianb.1855–d.1947
Andreas Singdahlsen
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Andreas Singdahlsen was born on 31 March 1855 in Moss, a coastal town on the western shore of the Oslofjord. He came of age during a period when Norwegian painting was asserting its own identity, drawing on the naturalist currents flowing from France and Germany while rooting itself firmly in the particular light and terrain of the Norwegian countryside.
In 1882-1883 he studied under two of the most formative figures in Norwegian art of that era, Christian Krohg and Frits Thaulow. Krohg, a committed naturalist who had trained in Germany and Paris, instilled a close observational approach to painting; Thaulow brought a lyrical sensitivity to water and atmosphere shaped by his time in the French countryside. From these two teachers Singdahlsen absorbed a working method oriented toward direct engagement with the landscape.
His subjects were drawn predominantly from rural Akershus and Buskerud - the farmsteads of Asker, the river valleys around Modum and Lier, and the gentle rolling terrain west of the capital in winter. He returned repeatedly to compositions featuring horse-drawn figures moving through snow-covered farmyards, frozen rivers and grey winter skies, giving his output a consistent seasonal character. He was closely enough connected to the circle around Edvard Munch that Munch painted his portrait in 1883, the same year Singdahlsen was studying with Krohg. Gustav Wentzel also painted his portrait in 1887, placing him within a network of artists who knew and observed one another.
Two of his works entered the collection of the National Museum in Oslo, and at his death in 1947 he bequeathed his property Bondilia in Asker to Norwegian visual artists, an act that says something about his long commitment to the artistic community. He lived to 92, one of the longest-lived figures of his artistic generation.
At auction, Singdahlsen appears almost exclusively through Grev Wedels Plass Auksjoner in Oslo, which has handled 14 of the 15 recorded lots. His winter and autumn landscapes account for the bulk of sales, with prices ranging from around NOK 1,500 to a peak of NOK 26,000 for "Mann på bro over demning, høstlandskap Lier" - a strong result that reflects collector interest in his most resolved compositions. Other well-placed lots include winter farmyard scenes from 1890 and 1905, each selling in the range of NOK 17,000-20,000.