A journey into Anna-Eva Bergman’s graphic universe

The Fondation Hartung Bergman in Antibes has donated 154 of Anna-Eva Bergman’s graphic works to the National Museum. This exceptional gift has prompted the “Anna-Eva Bergman. A Graphic Universe” exhibition that is set to open to the general public on 13 November at the Museum of Contemporary Art.

For Bergman, graphic works were a special field that allowed her to experiment and explore particular techniques in close interaction with painting. Indeed, it is primarily as a painter and not as a printmaker that Bergman’s art has been reviewed and discussed in Norway. Few of her exhibitions focused exclusively on prints.

Rocks, celestial bodies, mountains, fjords, horizons, boats, and tombs
The exhibition has been set up according to Bergman’s own categorization in her note “Les Thèmes” from the 1960s. In this note Bergman describes her formal repertoire, which is based on the motifs of “rocks, celestial bodies, mountains, fjords, horizons, boats, and tombs”. Bergman constantly reworked the motifs from “Les Thèmes” in both paintings and prints. Behind every picture lay exact calculations and pictorial constructions, and her imagery developed almost scientifically.

From the deck of a coastal steamer
Even though Anna-Eva Bergman (1909–1987) spent most of her adult life in France, Norway played an important role in her art. Impressions from two journeys to Northern Norway in the summers of 1950 and 1964 had a lasting influence on her prints and paintings. From the deck of the Hurtigruten coastal steamer, Bergman observed the rugged Northern Norwegian nature and its deep fjords, steep mountains, vast ocean waters, midnight sun, and endless horizon. Photographs from the trips underlay the creation of many of her works.

An international artist above all
Anna-Eva Bergman displayed her works in Europe and participated in major group exhibitions worldwide. She and her husband Hans Hartung were part of the art scene in Paris. Bergman’s art was first presented to the Norwegian public in 1932, at a joint exhibition with Hartung at Galleri Blomqvist in Oslo. Her first major retrospectiveexhibition in Norway took place at the Henie Onstad Kunstsenter outside of Oslo in 1979.

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“Anna-Eva Bergman. A Graphic Universe” will be shown at the Museum of Contemporary Art from 13 November 2015 to 14 August 2016. The exhibition curator is Randi Godø. The exhibition is accompanied by a catalogue raisonné that will also include essays by Geneviève Duris, Catherine Gonnard, and Randi Godø.

Further information:
Eva Amine Wold Engeset, press officer: +0047 469 50 102, eva.engeset@nasjonalmuseet.no