Olav Mosebekk
Olav Mosebekk (1910-2001) was a Norwegian draughtsman, painter, illustrator and printmaker from Kongsberg. Human figures, especially women and children, are central to his art. He died in Oslo.
From illustration to independent art
Mosebekk studied at the National College of Art and Design and the National Academy of Fine Arts. He debuted at Høstutstillingen in 1935 and achieved his breakthrough with a solo show at the National Gallery in 1948. He taught at the college from 1947 to 1969 and founded a drawing school with Hans Normann Dahl in 1995.
During his Asker years, 1936-1947, family provided many subjects. Small drawings gradually gave way to larger, more developed compositions. Figures and the balance of white, grey and black became important. His women need not portray named individuals: they can explore form, movement and the picture plane.
Nice in 1949-1950 and subsequent French visits brought French artistic influences. Around 1960, his initially restricted painting palette broadened. He painted into the 1990s and illustrated books by authors including Sigrid Undset and Arne Garborg.
Materials and documented works
Mosebekk used pen, ink and grease pencil, the latter lending soft transitions and a painterly quality. He also made oils, watercolours and lithographs. Identifying the medium matters when describing an individual work.
- Selvportrett (1931): the National Museum records oil on canvas, 55 x 46.5 cm.
- Pike og blomster, dated by the museum to around 1960: oil on hardboard, 70 x 50 cm.
- An illustration for Kjæresten i skogen, dated around 1981, is recorded as a drawing in lithographic crayon on paper. This drawing material does not itself make the sheet a lithographic impression.
Original works, prints and signatures
A drawing, an editioned print and a book reproduction require different descriptions, even when visually similar. Grev Wedels Plass Auksjoner catalogued the lithograph Aften with the signature “O. Mosebekk” and inscription “særtrykk”. These document that particular sheet, rather than provide a complete signature guide.
Assessing a work
Photograph paper margins beyond the image, where signatures, titles and edition details may appear. Record discolouration, stains, tears and framing traces separately from the drawing's tonal effects. For paintings, describe the support, flaking and previous interventions. Receipts, exhibition labels and former ownership records provide stronger provenance evidence than a signature alone.
Read more about artist signatures, provenance and ownership history.
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Contact OBA about selling and assessment (Norwegian page).
Sources
- Store norske leksikon: education, techniques and teaching
- Norsk kunstnerleksikon: development and subjects
- Norsk biografisk leksikon: France, painting and illustration
- National Museum: artist record
- National Museum: self-portrait
- National Museum: girl and flowers
- National Museum: book illustration
- Grev Wedels Plass Auksjoner: signature and inscriptions
- Norsk biografisk leksikon: Hans Normann Dahl and the drawing school
- Grev Wedels Plass Auksjoner: documented watercolour
