Henrik Sørensen
Henrik Ingvar Sørensen (1882 to 1962) was a Norwegian painter born in Fryksände in Värmland, Sweden. He worked with landscapes, portraits, religious paintings, socially engaged compositions and book illustrations. Birthplace and nationality are separate matters; the National Museum records him as Norwegian.
Colour, training and personal expression
Sørensen attended the Drawing School in Kristiania and studied under Kristian Zahrtmann in Copenhagen and Henri Matisse in Paris. Matisse contributed to freer colour and more independent expression. Emotion and inner tension could take precedence over neutral description of the subject.
Nature, human suffering and pacifism subsequently became central themes. He painted intense compositions alongside calmer portraits and landscapes. One dramatic picture cannot adequately represent his entire career. His social engagement relates to the pictures' expression but does not replace investigation of form and colour.
Getsemane and religious painting
The National Museum's Getsemane was begun in 1922 and completed in 1925. It is oil on canvas, 151 × 130.5 cm. The catalogue records a process extending over several years. A date in a simplified caption cannot therefore always serve as the sole precise dating.
Religious compositions allowed Sørensen to investigate grief and pain. His opposition to violence also found secular expression. These aspects belong together when considering a Christ figure, a war subject or a person seemingly merging into the landscape.
Landscape and Telemark
Telemark and Holmsbu were important working environments. Vest-Telemark Museum emphasises his many summers at Smørklepp and the connection with his friend and pupil Harald Kihle. This was a landscape he repeatedly returned to, rather than merely a passing travel subject.
The National Museum records Det kveldes i Støylsdalen of 1947 as oil on fibreboard, 46 × 55 cm. This particular support differs from the canvas of Getsemane. A catalogue entry for another Sørensen landscape does not justify describing every landscape as painted on canvas.
Monumental painting and an unused proposal
Sørensen's public commissions included the end wall of Oslo City Hall, Arbeid, administrasjon, fest. His influence on Norwegian art also involved extensive networks and an impact on exhibition activities. That role must be distinguished from authorship of individual works exhibited or acquired.
The museum's Fossegrimen. Ubenyttet utkast til Rådhusdekorasjonen is oil on canvas, 62 × 110 cm, recorded as begun in 1938 and completed in 1950. The title expressly identifies an unused proposal. It should therefore not be presented as a detached part of the executed City Hall wall or as identical to the finished monumental work.
Drawing and book illustration
An illustration for En frierhistorie in Asbjørnsen and Moe's Samlede eventyr of 1936 is dated 1932 by the National Museum. The original is pen on paper, 250 × 364 mm, also called Fjellgård. Drawing and book publication carry different dates and are different objects.
A book page, a later reproduction and an original print require separate examination. A printed reproduction of pen strokes is not itself an original drawing. Describe any numbering or signature on a separate sheet according to actual evidence, without assuming a particular edition from the artist's name.
Condition, signature and provenance
Record technique, support, dimensions, inscriptions and documented ownership history. Examine retouching, overpainting, damp damage, cracking paint and altered stretching or mounting. Works on paper also require checks for fading, tears and trimming. Labels, receipts and older photographs may support identification. Resemblance of subject, initials or biography alone does not authenticate the object.
Read more about artist signatures, provenance and ownership history.
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