KunstenaarNorwegiangeb.1908–ov.1994
Arne Ekeland
0 actieve items
Arne Ekeland grew up among industrial workers in Bon, near Eidsvoll, and that working-class milieu shaped everything he painted. Born in 1908, he studied briefly under Axel Revold at the National Academy of Art in Oslo. He made his debut at a joint exhibition of Revold's students in spring 1929.
His early development drew on German Expressionism, French Cubism, and Italian Renaissance painting. Byzantine art also left a deep mark on his visual language. Ekeland was a committed communist who believed art should agitate for political change.
The defining moment came with his solo exhibition at Kunstnernes Hus in Oslo, which opened on March 29, 1940. Nearly 60 works sold on opening day. Among them was "De siste skudd," displayed five days before the German invasion of Norway. Two years later, the Nazi authorities included it in their "Art and Degenerate Art" exhibition. After this landmark show, Ekeland was widely regarded as the most important Norwegian painter of his generation.
The wartime years produced some of Ekeland's most charged work. "Kampen" (1943) and "Frihetens stjerne" (1943) channeled resistance sentiment into surrealist compositions. His influence on younger Norwegian painters was substantial. He died in 1994.
Ekeland's paintings appear almost exclusively through Grev Wedels Plass Auksjoner in Oslo, with 102 lots on Auctionist. "Procession" has sold for 500,000 NOK, "Frihetens stjerne" for 350,000 NOK, and "Badende figurer" for 270,000 NOK.