MUSEUM AND ART RESIDENCY

The project aims to unveil the ambiguous life and conception of the Norwegian landscape painter by introducing a museum and art residency between the overgrown reliqual ruins of his birth place on the poor-populated island of Borgøy.

Lars Hertervig's ouvre spands through different perceptions of place, all of wich the project strives to emphasize by concentrating on the situal ressonance and placing moments of awakening abnormalities within the architecture.

You enter the building through the cellar. The bare concrete and open structure represents an understanding of a more modern and global world in which we exist. While above, the wooden structure (ceiling) resembles something from the past, finely decorated with traditional Norwegian rose-paintings, reminding us of our cultural heritage. Walking through the house, you will meet awkward architectural elements, forcing you to slow down and therefore be present [dasein]. 

Reserved for the artist in residence, the atelier is a place where the contemporary artist can reflect, create and exhibit. The room produces unconventional conditions for a working space - from the narrow and ‘gloomy’ atmosphere in the entrance of the room to the grand and light gesture of the window. These conditions are made to provoke the oeuvre of Hertervig in the work of the artist. 

A rough granite stone from the island stands as a pillar before the view of trees, creating a strong bond between the building and its surroundings.

The first exhibition room is reserved for Lars Hertervigs first period (1853-1856). In this period he painted in the German romantic tradition - dramatic and dark, oil on canvas. 

The next room serves as a distribution area as well as an exhibition room. Here you will find some of Hertervig´s paperwork and studies of the primal forest. The room is in constant dialog with the outside environment, attempting to imitate the forest outside. 

The main exhibition room is reserved for Lars Hertervig’s latest works, the oil paintings (1865-1867) and different paperwork he painted until his death in 1902. These final paintings became lighter, more sublime and more religious towards the end of his life as his illness developed. The paintings appear more naiv and surreal - graphite, gauche and watercolour on either tobacco paper, wrapping paper and other scraps of paper he collected. 

The residence and museum are intended to interact with each other, existing side by side, but with an awareness of each others existence. The residence, both structurally and atmospherically, acts as a back-drop for the exhibition. The dwelling is simply furnished, serving only the most primitive needs - just as Hertervig lived.