The National Gallery of Norway is a gallery in Oslo

Oslo

Oslo is a municipality, as well as the capital and most populous city in Norway. As a municipality , it was established on 1 January 1838. Founded around 1048 by King Harald III of Norway, the city was largely destroyed by fire in 1624. The city was moved under the reign of Denmark–Norway's King...

, Norway

Norway

Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...

. Since 2003 it is administratively a part of the National Museum of Art, Architecture and Design.

History

It was established in 1842 following a parliamentary decision from 1836. Originally located in the Royal Palace, Oslo

Royal Palace, Oslo

The Royal Palace in Oslo was built in the first half of the 19th century as the Norwegian residence of Norwegian and Swedish king Charles III and is the official residence of the present Norwegian Monarch. The crown prince couple resides at Skaugum in Asker west of Oslo...

, it got its own museum building in 1882, designed by Heinrich Ernst

Heinrich Ernst

Heinrich Ernst was a highly decorated Oberfeldwebel in the Wehrmacht during World War II. He was also a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross...

 and Adolf Schirmer

Adolf Schirmer

Adolf Schirmer was a Norwegian architect.Adolf Schirmer was born in Bærum, the son of architect Heinrich Ernst Schirmer and Sophie Ottilia Major . He was married on 6 November 1878 to Hildur Koch...

. Former names of the museum include Den norske stats sentralmuseum for billedkunst and from 1903 to 1920 Statens Kunstmuseum. Directors include Jens Thiis

Jens Thiis

Jens Thiis was a Norwegian art historian, conservator and a prominent museum director. He was conservator at Nordenfjeldske Kunstindustrimuseum in Trondheim 1895 and director at Nasjonalgalleriet in Oslo 1908–1941.He was unusual alert to tendencies of his time...

 (1908–1941), Sigurd Willoch

Sigurd Willoch

Sigurd Daniel Isaachsen Willoch was a Norwegian art historian and director of the National Gallery of Norway.He was born in Oslo, the grandson of painter Olaf Isaachsen. He was a second cousin of both national aviation director Erik Isaachsen Willoch and Norwegian Prime Minister 1981–1986...

 (1946–1973), Knut Berg (1975–1995), Tone Skedsmo (1995–2000) and Anniken Thue (2001–2003).

Collection

The Gallery includes pieces by sculptor Julius Middelthun

Julius Middelthun

Julius Middelthun was a Norwegian sculptor born in Kongsberg, son of a coin engraver. As a young man he trained as a goldsmith before moving to Copenhagen to study with Bissen. His ten years there were followed by eight years in Rome, after which time he returned to Norway...

, painters Johan Christian Claussen Dahl, Erik Werenskiold

Erik Werenskiold

Erik Theodor Werenskiold was a Norwegian painter and illustrator. He is especially known for his drawings for the...

 and Christian Krohg

Christian Krohg

Christian Krohg , was a Norwegian naturalist painter, illustrator, author and journalist.-Life and career:...

 as well as works by Edvard Munch

Edvard Munch

Edvard Munch was a Norwegian Symbolist painter, printmaker and an important forerunner of expressionist art. His best-known composition, The Scream, is part of a series The Frieze of Life, in which Munch explored the themes of love, fear, death, melancholia, and anxiety.- Childhood :Edvard Munch...

 initially including his Loving Woman

Madonna (Edvard Munch)

Madonna is a painting by the Norwegian expressionist Edvard Munch. Munch painted five versions of the Madonna between 1894 and 1895, using oils on canvas. One of them measures 91 x 70.5 cm....

, now housed in the Munch Museum

Munch Museum

Munch Museum is an art museum in Oslo, Norway dedicated to the life and works of the Norwegian artist Edvard Munch.-Munch Museum:...

.