While other European royal houses commissioned large, factory-produced tapestries from places like Paris, the collection of the Palace tells a different story. It consists of textiles from prominent Norwegian artists and craftsmen, characterized by the national spirit of craftsmanship, local wool, and plant dyeing. This heritage represents a unique piece of Norwegian art and cultural history that has not been displayed to such an extent before. Many of the textiles are part of private interiors and are now being shown for the very first time in a public context.
The exhibition highlights both well-known and unknown artists and craftsmen. Through thorough investigations of archives and accounts, it has been possible to identify several important pattern designers such as Marie Karsten and Annette Schirmer, as well as skilled weavers like Karen and Ragnhild Prestgard, Ulrikke Greve, and Karen Meidell.
The Prestgard sisters, who dyed the yarn themselves using plants from nature, and Meidell, who delivered a number of works directly to Queen Maud, are important representatives of the high level of craftsmanship that characterized the period. The exhibition shows how these women combined technical skill with an ideological stance rooted in Norwegian nature and tradition.
For many, The National Tapestries will be the absolute highlight of the exhibition. These monumental works, woven under the direction of Frida Hansen from designs by Gerhard Munthe, won a gold medal at the world exhibition in Paris in 1900. In the exhibition, the tapestries are displayed alongside Gerhard Munthe's versions, which have been borrowed for the occasion from the Norwegian School of Economics / Villa Stupet in Bergen and Trondheim Art Museum. The National Tapestries hung for many years in the upper vestibule of the Palace as a national symbol but were taken down to be preserved for posterity. They are now made available to the public again.
The exhibition Threads in Time spans from the Renaissance of pictorial weaving in the 1890s with motifs from legends and medieval times, all the way to the peacetime after World War II.
Opening Hours
Leading up to summer, KunstStallen will be open Thursday to Sunday - from 11:00 AM to 5:00 PM. There will be a free guided tour of the exhibition at 1:00 PM on Thursday and Friday. On weekends, there are two tours: at 12:00 PM and 2:00 PM.
