Gerhard Munthe
Gerhard Peter Frantz Wilhelm Munthe (1849 to 1929) was a Norwegian painter and designer from Elverum. He worked in landscape painting, decorative imagery, book art and interior decoration. Designs after his drawings were also executed as tapestries and porcelain decoration. This breadth makes it especially important to distinguish the artist's image, a design and an object made by another person or workshop.
Landscape and decorative art side by side
Munthe studied at Eckersberg's painting school and the Drawing School in Christiania. Later he lived in Düsseldorf and Munich, working and studying art without attending the academies. Eastern Norwegian landscapes, farmyards and changing light became important subjects in his painting.
The National Museum's Aften i Eggedal of 1888 is oil on canvas, 94 × 71 cm. This particular painting should not be confused with larger versions of the subject. Munthe continued painting landscapes after decorative art became prominent in his work. His development was therefore not a simple transition from one activity to another.
In his decorative images of the 1890s, perspective flattened, contours became clearer and colours stronger. Subjects drawn from legends, folk ballads and fantasy were arranged in rhythmic areas. Inspiration came both from older Norwegian traditions and international art. These decorative images were not all originally tapestry cartoons. Some were independent fantasy pictures that could later serve as models for other materials.
Mørkredd: work on paper and tapestry
Mørkredd in the National Museum is dated probably 1892 and executed with brush, watercolour and gouache on paper. The sheet measures 554 × 812 mm. Viti also presents a woven Mørkredd of 1895, in plant-dyed wool using tapestry technique. Material and version must therefore both be specified. A title does not identify a single object or a shared production year.
Likewise, “Munthe tapestry” needs precise interpretation. Kunstnernes Hus documents that the 1949 memorial exhibition included tapestries woven by Ragna Breivik after Munthe's subjects. The Royal Collections' Riksteppene are based on his drawings but were woven at Det norske Billedvæveri under Frida Hansen's direction. This does not justify saying that Munthe wove them himself, or that Hansen's leadership meant she did all the weaving.
Porcelain and book design
Munthe also designed decoration for Porsgrunds Porselænsfabrik. Blåveis is a documented example. Viti's collection presentation distinguishes a design of 1892 from production in 1893 to 1907. Manufacturer, decoration, model and date require separate examination on a particular tableware item. A hepatica flower motif alone does not establish that the piece carries Munthe's decoration.
For the 1899 Snorre edition, Munthe designed the binding and decorative elements in a project with several illustrators, including Werenskiold and Egedius. He also selected paper and type. In Draumkvæde, published in 1904, he worked on the binding, illustrations and hand-drawn text. The book was conceived as an integrated visual form.
Authorship, execution and provenance
A watercolour signed Munthe, a tapestry after his subject and porcelain carrying his decoration involve different relationships of authorship and production. Record who designed, who executed and what is actually documented. A design date is not automatically a weaving or production date. Signature, workshop mark and woven inscription provide different kinds of information.
For textiles, examine fading, loose wefts, losses, repairs and altered mounting. For paper, discolouration and retouching matter; for porcelain, check chips, cracks and repairs. Preserve labels, receipts and earlier ownership records. Biography and resemblance of subject alone never authenticate the particular object.
Read more about artist signatures, provenance and ownership history.
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Sources and further reading
Store norske leksikon, Norsk kunstnerleksikon, Norsk biografisk leksikon, Aften i Eggedal, Mørkredd, Viti: Jugendstilsamlingen, Kunstnernes Hus: Munthetepper, De kongelige samlinger: Riksteppene, Frida Hansen og Det norske Billedvæveri and Nasjonalmuseet: Snorre-illustratørene.
