Hans HeyerdahlDrammen’s eminent painter

From an early age, Drammen painter Hans Heyerdahl (1857–1913) was declared an artistic prodigy, and he went on to become one of the most significant painters of his generation. He came to distinguish himself in a range of styles – realism, outdoor painting, impressionism, symbolism, and romanticism. It was a career that ended suddenly and prematurely. Today, his name is not widely known. Who was Heyerdahl?

He gained his art education from Den kgl. Tegneskole (Royal School of Drawing) in Kristiania under Peder Cappelen Thurmann (1873–74), from Akademie der Bildenden Künste in Munich under Ludwig von Löfftz and Wilhelm von Lindenschmit the Younger (1874–77), and was a student of Léon Bonnat in Paris (ca. 1878–80). Many years of his career were spent abroad – in Munich, Paris, and Florence – but after 1885 his summers were mostly spent in Åsgårdstrand.

Heyerdahl’s motivating force was probably l’art pour l’art – art for art’s sake – painting as a pure painterly pleasure. Among his most well-known works are Adam og Eva drives ut av Paradiset (Adam and Eve Are Expelled From Paradise),Champagnepiken(Champagne Girl), as well as many landscape and cityscape paintings, and portraits of adults and children. He was one of the most significant artists of his generation, he was popular among the art-loving public, and he belonged to the so-called Golden Age of Norwegian painting. Heyerdahl exhibited more often than his contemporaries, and received a huge amount of praise during his lifetime. Several decades after his death he was also honoured with exhibitions, such as that arranged by Drammen Kunstforening to mark the centennial of his birth.

Heyerdahl’s significance for his age and later can be seen in how many collectors, not least art museums, have wished to acquire his works. For example, his hometown’s museum, Drammens Museum, owns 37 paintings, and the National Museum in Oslo more than 41 paintings and 19 drawings. In foreign collections he has been acquired, among others, by Göteborg Konstmuseum, the National Museum and Waldemarsudde in Stockholm, Musée régional d’Auvergne in Riom in Frankrike, and the Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen in Munich.

It is an important artist and a significant art production which now are being brought back into the spotlight for new generations to enjoy at Galleri Star.

We extend our gratitude to Drammens Museum and Stiftelsen Tingstua for the loan of works. Special thanks must go to Sparebanken Øst for support and for loan of works.