ArtistNorwegian
Tore Juell
0 active items
Tore Juell was born in Kragerø, Norway, in 1942, into a family where art was appreciated but not considered a viable profession. His father, a clothier, encouraged him toward commercial art school as a practical compromise - a path Juell accepted, though it could not contain what came next. By his own account, drawing had been his primary occupation since the age of five, and school teachers would sometimes set him free during lessons to pursue it.
The shift toward serious artistic commitment arrived in 1962, when Kragerø - a town with deep ties to Norwegian visual culture, most notably associated with Edvard Munch - hosted an exhibition featuring works by leading Norwegian painters of the day. For Juell, seeing that work in his home town was decisive. He enrolled at the State School of Arts and Crafts in Norway (Statens håndverks- og kunstindustriskole), completing two years of study. He subsequently traveled through Europe with his partner, spending extended time in galleries including the Louvre, where he studied the work of Rembrandt and other old masters with close attention.
Juell's practice has centered on two main subjects: the Norwegian landscape and portraiture. His approach is rooted in observation and traditional craft rather than conceptual experiment. The coastal and winter landscapes of Telemark and the surrounding region appear throughout his work - scenes of fjords, snow-covered fields, and grey morning light over the water. His portraits draw on the same attentiveness to atmosphere and tone.
Among the commissions that have marked his career, one of the most significant was the invitation to paint a portrait of the Norwegian King for the parliamentary building - an assignment he has described as a particular honour. He has lived for periods in Marbella, Spain, and continues to travel widely as part of his practice. His work is shown at Gallery Nicolines hus in Kragerø and through other Norwegian venues.
On the auction market, all 19 of Juell's items recorded on the Auctionist platform come from a single house: Grev Wedels Plass Auksjoner in Oslo, a house known for its focus on Norwegian art from the 19th and 20th centuries. The top results include 'Vinterlandskap' at 15,000 NOK, 'Marsaften, Telemark' at 11,000 NOK, and 'Vintermorgen' at 9,000 NOK - prices that reflect a consistent level of market interest in his atmospheric winter and coastal subjects. 'Aften på Jomfruland' and 'Kystlandskap' each realized 6,000 NOK. The concentration of sales at a single specialist house suggests his market sits primarily within Norway's dedicated fine art auction circuit.