Ingebrigt Vik
Ingebrigt Vik (1867 to 1927) was a Norwegian sculptor from Øystese in Hardanger. The human figure and portraiture are central to works in materials including bronze and marble.
From woodcarving to independent sculpture
Vik began as a woodcarver, training in workshops in Bergen and Copenhagen. He attended Copenhagen's art academy from 1889 to 1891. Back in Bergen he worked on architectural decoration and ran a woodcarving workshop. Constantin Meunier's sculpture, encountered in Paris in 1900, informed Arbeideren. In 1902 he moved to Paris to pursue sculpture.
Vik developed a classically informed naturalism. Individual figures are central; posture and balance convey age and stages of life.
Ynglingen: artist and bronze caster have different roles
The National Museum's Ynglingen is cast bronze, 163 cm high, catalogued as 1913. Ernst Poleszynski is recorded as bronze caster and Vik as artist. The youth holds his arms behind him, bowing his head and slightly twisting his body. The museum purchased it in 1914. The catalogue year does not automatically establish a precise casting date.
One subject can have several material versions
Sittende ung pike demonstrates the distinction between model and execution. Norsk kunstnerleksikon dates the modelling to 1904. The National Museum's marble sculpture is dated 1908, measuring 114 cm high and 40 cm wide. Purchased in 1907, it entered the collection in 1908. These are different events in its history.
Gammel kone in the same museum is a bronze bust from 1904, 41.8 cm high. The smaller format offers a different encounter with portraiture from a full-length statue. Its title alone cannot establish an object's material, size or particular version.
Portrait statues and the Øystese collection
The Edvard Grieg statue in Bergen's Byparken was unveiled in 1917. The composer stands in an ordinary suit, offering concentrated characterisation rather than a grand dramatic gesture.
Vik left his collection to his home community. The Øystese museum opened in 1934 and preserves bronze, plaster, clay and marble, from working models to finished pieces. Materials and stages of production are therefore important to documentation.
Assessing a sculpture
A plaster model, a marble version and a bronze cast require separate descriptions. Record material, dimensions, base, inscriptions and any foundry marks. A bronze caster's name may document execution rather than constitute the artist's signature. For bronze, evidence about the model, casting, authorisation and previous owners must concern the particular example. Breaks, fills, surface treatment and later joins matter in plaster and stone. Similarity of subject alone establishes neither a particular edition size nor authenticity.
Read more about artist signatures, provenance and ownership history.
Browse related items in our online shop.
Contact OBA about selling and assessment (Norwegian page).
