Fritz Røed
Fritz Røed: from modelled figures to monuments and playful sculpture
Fritz Røed (1928 to 2002) was a Norwegian sculptor from Time in Jæren. His practice encompassed portraits, ceramics, play sculptures and large public monuments. He could work with a quiet, simplified human figure and a lively carnival world of fauns and entertainers.
Training and materials
He studied at the Norwegian National School of Arts and Crafts and the National Academy of Fine Arts in Oslo, continuing his education in Copenhagen and Paris. From the 1970s he worked periodically in Villa Faraldi in Liguria, later settling permanently in Italy. Italian sculpture and culture informed his later production.
Ceramics were important to his practice. Norsk kunstnerleksikon documents collaboration with Jens and Margrethe von der Lippe and Erik Pløen. The relief Afrodite mater hønene sine demonstrates stoneware's potential for humorous narrative figures. Such collaborations require attention to the artist's design and the workshop's contribution when examining a ceramic work.
One subject in different materials
Magdalena fra Anticoli illustrates why subject and object require distinction. Norsk biografisk leksikon records a stoneware version from 1961 and bronze from around 1970. The woman holding a parasol and vessel is shaped in broad, simplified volumes. Dating one material version does not date all examples of the subject.
Sverd i fjell
The bronze monument Sverd i fjell at Hafrsfjord was unveiled in 1983. The work is also described with the period 1980 to 1983. Three swords embedded in the rock express the ending of conflict. A simple, recognisable form gains symbolic force through scale and placement.
Røed's public works also include sculptures made for use and social gathering, in concrete, plastic and metal. His production therefore cannot be described through bronze alone or a single unchanging style.
Arne Garborg and the sculpture park in Bryne
Time municipality's collection record lists Arne Garborg as cast bronze, dating the monument to 2001. Commissioned for the Garborg anniversary, it was unveiled by King Harald V. This documents the public monument; it provides no edition list for possible models or smaller versions.
Fritz Røed Sculpture Park beside Bryneåna opened on 1 October 2004, after his death. Its opening must therefore be distinguished from the modelling and casting of individual works. Municipal collection documentation also records subsequent additions and works executed by others after Røed's sketches. These authorship roles matter when describing a particular sculpture.
Buying, selling and assessment
Record material, dimensions, measured weight where available, surface, base, signature and any foundry or workshop marks. Modelling, casting and unveiling can have different dates. Numbering and edition size require documentation for the particular edition. Chips, cracks and restoration matter for ceramics; describe patina and later alterations on bronze. A similar signature or familiar subject alone cannot authenticate an object.
Read more about ceramics, artist signatures, provenance and ownership history.
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