Woman Painting National Identity , 2026 –
a new interpretation of the national romantic painter I.C Dahl and his painting called Stugunøset på Filefjeld from 1851.
400 × 350 cm
Painting on fossil surfaces
a new interpretation of the national romantic painter I.C Dahl and his painting called Stugunøset på Filefjeld from 1851.
400 × 350 cm
Painting on fossil surfaces
Thise two paintings are made on a reused, translucent tarpaulin, stretched between the floor and the ceiling, allowing the viewer to move around the work and experience it from both sides. In my reworking of Stugunøset at Filefjeld, five men in workwear move across the mountain as they prepare for blasting. Their presence shifts the landscape away from a National Romantic ideal of the untouched and timeless, toward a place marked by labour, intervention, and human action. What appears monumental and unspoiled in Johan Christian Dahl’s painting becomes here an active field of work — a landscape in transformation. Though small in scale, the figures mark a decisive rupture: nature is no longer merely observed, but acted upon. The work is lit so that it casts a distinct shadow onto the wall, forming a secondary image. This shadow functions as a fragile reflection in which contours dissolve and the motif becomes less concrete. It can be read as a memory in the making — an image of nature as it is remembered, or will be remembered. In this way, the painting expands from a depiction of a specific place into a reflection on time, loss, and transformation. Reference: Stugunøset at Filefjeld (1851). Stugunøset at Filefjeld is a celebrated National Romantic oil painting from 1851 by Johan Christian Dahl, held in the Nasjonalmuseet collection.
The above work measurs 67 × 89.5 cm, and depicts Mount Støgonøse (1,433 m above sea level) in Valdres, based on sketches from the artist’s final journey to the area in 1850. The painting is known for its dramatic use of light and its monumental mountain landscape. Key details: Artist: Johan Christian Dahl (1788–1857). Year: 1851. Motif: Mount Støgonøse at Filefjell, viewed from north of Lake Otrøvatnet toward Suletind. Style: National Romanticism. History: Painted when Dahl was 62 after a physically demanding journey; sold to the Christiania Art Society in 1852, later donated to the National Gallery in 1901. Cultural legacy: Featured on a Norwegian postage stamp in 1976
The above work measurs 67 × 89.5 cm, and depicts Mount Støgonøse (1,433 m above sea level) in Valdres, based on sketches from the artist’s final journey to the area in 1850. The painting is known for its dramatic use of light and its monumental mountain landscape. Key details: Artist: Johan Christian Dahl (1788–1857). Year: 1851. Motif: Mount Støgonøse at Filefjell, viewed from north of Lake Otrøvatnet toward Suletind. Style: National Romanticism. History: Painted when Dahl was 62 after a physically demanding journey; sold to the Christiania Art Society in 1852, later donated to the National Gallery in 1901. Cultural legacy: Featured on a Norwegian postage stamp in 1976
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Woman Painting National Identity (2026) 280 x 190 cm Acrylic on transparent tarpaulin Paraphrase: J.C. Dahl, Shipwrecked on the Norwegian Coast (1832) |