Collection: Nikolai Astrup

Nikolai Astrup was a Norwegian visual artist, graphic artist, painter and draftsman who was active from 1880 to 1928. He is known for having taken his motifs from the Jølster area, and his artistic ambition was to recreate the strong natural impressions he had from childhood. Astrup grew up in Jølster, where his father was a priest, and he spent most of his life there. He received an art education in Kristiania and also spent a year in Paris. He considered himself primarily a painter, but it was as a graphic artist that he was most original and innovative. Astrup started with woodcuts at a time when there were few Norwegian artists who experimented with the technique. He was self-taught as a woodcut artist, but quickly became good at the technique. He also experimented with printing in color by cutting out several wooden plates and printing on the paper in several passes. One of Astrup's most popular woodcuts is Bird on a Stone, which is often cited as an example of his inspiration from Japanese woodcuts. Astrup often used the brush on the finished woodcut and added a little paint where he thought something was missing. Nikolai Astrup is an important representative of Norwegian art from the period, and his works reflect his strong connection to nature and the landscape in the Jølster area.