Lars Hertervig
Lars Hertervig (1830-1902) was a Norwegian painter from Tysvær. He died in Stavanger.
From the painting trade to Düsseldorf
Hertervig grew up on Borgøya and in Stavanger. Training in the painting trade and drawing lessons with Bernhard Hansson preceded studies in Christiania and with Hans Gude in Düsseldorf from 1852. Mental health difficulties interrupted his stay abroad. He was hospitalised at Gaustad in 1856-1858.
Oil, watercolour and the character of paper
Works on paper dominated his final decades. Hertervig often reused packaging and pieces of wallpaper as supports. Thinly applied colour allowed the material itself to become visible within the image.
A few small oil paintings also survive from his last 30 years.
One documented work on paper is Landskap, dated to around the 1870s. Stavanger Art Museum's I skyene catalogue records it as watercolour and gouache on tobacco paper, 33.5 × 50 cm, inventory number SG.0304.
Landscape seen through memory
After his time abroad, his life centred largely on Borgøya and Stavanger. He worked with limited means, distant from artistic circles. Stavanger Art Museum describes landscapes as visions, possibly based on memories. Reading every subject as an exact topographical record would therefore be misleading.
Skogtjern and Borgøya
Skogtjern, dated 1865, is catalogued by the National Museum as oil on canvas, 46.5 × 63 cm, acquired in 1914. It documents a period when Hertervig could again paint in oils and the later entry of his work into public collections.
Borgøya, dated 1867, is also oil on canvas, 61.7 × 69.5 cm. The National Museum emphasises the personal transformation of his birthplace's landscape. Mountains, still water and light create more than a description of place: nature becomes both a recognisable starting point and an independent pictorial space.
A late work on paper
Femetasjes hus ved stranden is dated to the 1890s. The National Museum records gouache on paper, 225 × 289 mm, under drawing. The example shows why a catalogue category such as drawing should be read alongside the specified technique.
Examine the paper before making changes
For a possible Hertervig work, irregular edges, composite supports and old mounting can be important evidence. They should neither automatically be called later damage nor assumed to be the artist's work. Document the object as found, including front, reverse and joins in the support. A paper conservator can assess original construction and later interventions.
Describe provenance through specific ownership information, receipts or earlier catalogue references. An old frame or inscription alone does not establish authorship. The same applies to a name accompanying a reproduction of a familiar image. Distinguish an independently executed work from a printed reproduction, and make uncertain attribution explicit.
Tears, loose joins, mounting, moisture marks and visible colour changes belong in the condition report when present. Avoid trying to flatten, wash or detach an unfamiliar work on paper simply to make it look more even. Such interventions can alter both its material and the evidence needed to understand the object.
Explore related items
Read more about artist signatures, provenance and ownership history, Hans Gude.
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Sources
- Norsk kunstnerleksikon: Lars Hertervig
- Store norske leksikon: Lars Hertervig
- Stavanger kunstmuseum: I skyene, verksliste (2020), SG.0304
- Stavanger kunstmuseum: Hertervig og landskapets visjoner
- Nasjonalmuseet: Skogtjern
- Nasjonalmuseet: Borgøya
- Nasjonalmuseet: Femetasjes hus ved stranden
- Nasjonalmuseet: Lars Hertervig
