Press release -
The first retrospective exhibition of the work of Else Hagen
Else Hagen. Between People
The National Museum of Art, Architecture and Design
11 October 2024–26 January 2025
Else Hagen (1914-2010) had a powerful impact in Norway in the years after World War II. Today, she is often remembered as one of the first women in Norway to create large works for public spaces.
Hagen is known for her visually rich artistic production. She worked with painting, graphics and site-specific works in public buildings. She executed several large commissions, including the large mosaic Samfunn (Society) in the stairwell of the Norwegian parliament.
Using a modern, abstract idiom, her works challenge traditional notions of family life and gender roles. Hagen emphasised the formal composition and abstract elements of painting, often mixing motifs about close relationships, fault-lines in the nuclear family, and the experience of women.
With almost 70 works, the exhibition explores Hagen’s entire career. Beside its focus on paintings from the 1940s and 50s and the artist’s graphic production, it also includes a selection of her later material-based works.
The exhibition is a collaboration between Stavanger Art Museum, Trondheim kunstmuseum, Kunstsilo and the National Museum.
Topics
The National Museum of Art, Architecture and Design is the largest art museum in the Nordics. The collection contains 400,000 objects ranging from the antiquity to the present day and includes paintings, sculpture, drawings, textiles, furniture and architectural models. The new museum building opened in June 2022. At the National Museum visitors can experience a comprehensive Collection presentation of around 6,500 works, as well as a varied programme of temporary exhibitions and events.
