Even Ulving

Climate poet and portrayer of the realistic

Even Ulving (1863–1952) was another painter who did not quite make it into the ranks of those artists with a secure place in the history of Norwegian art. He was from Helgeland and as a young man he travelled to Kristiania, where he served as a painter’s apprentice, before enrolling as a student at Knud Bergslien’s School of Painting.

In 1885 he went to the Academy of Art in Munich and later to Academie Julian in Paris.

From 1900 to 1913 he lived in Sømnesøya, but in 1914 he travelled south and settled in Åsgårdstrand. Most of his works from North Norway were painted before 1914.

In spite of him not having been to Düsseldorf, he often employs the theatrical perspective, as in “From Reine i Lofoten” (undated), and “From Henningsvær” (c. 1902).

Although in the latter, he overlaps the boat in the foreground, obscuring part of it. This is a typical trait of realism. The way he uses the light and colour also tells us something about what he had seen and learned in Paris.

Otto SindingIn some of his works, he emerges as a climate poet, like in “From Reine towards Kirkefjorden” (undated) and particularly in “The Fleet Arrives” (undated), where the mist is seen settling over the sea and mountains.

Ulving also painted works showing how the fishermen lived, like in “A Fisherman’s Dwelling” (undated). This kind of painting is quite rare.

After 1914 he made a number of paintings featuring the Oslofjord. These show great skill, but are perhaps more characterized by routine than genuine experience.