Reidar Aulie
Reidar Aulie (1904 to 1977) was a Norwegian painter and printmaker from Kristiania. City life, social questions and everyday experience shaped his work.
Training and the portrayal of people
He studied at Statens Håndverks- og Kunstindustriskole and Statens Kunstakademi, with Christian Krohg and Axel Revold as teachers. In 1927 he travelled to Paris with Bjarne Ness.
During the 1930s, his attention shifted from crowds and the political movement towards individual lives. Everyday toil, sorrow and celebration became more prominent.
Aulie’s narratives could combine social engagement with humour and imagination. The contrast between the ordinary individual and their surroundings offers a useful starting point for looking at the pictures. Kunstnernes Hus surveyed his work in 1954.
The Railway and urban space
Nasjonalmuseet’s The Railway of 1933 is oil on canvas, 107 × 142 cm.
Tendens as a painting and a print subject
Tendens was painted in 1931. The Labour Movement Archives and Library also documents a lithographic detail of the composition, with an unknown print date and copy number 8/300. The numbering applies to this recorded print. The painting’s date does not establish when every later print was made, and 300 is not a common edition size for all of Aulie’s prints.
Public decorative work after the war
The frieze The Development of the Labour Movement in Norway was realised in Oslo City Hall in 1950. Skissernas Museum in Lund also records a separate sketch, ADK 7175, measuring 41 × 32.8 cm. The sketch and the completed decoration are different objects.
Postwar decorative commissions included Gamlebyen School in 1948 and Bolteløkka School in 1953. Social engagement and narrative pictures thus also entered the city’s public buildings, becoming part of their users’ everyday surroundings.
Illustration, printmaking and teaching
Aulie also worked in book illustration and particularly lithography. He became professor at Statens Kunstakademi in 1958. His teaching emphasised preserving each student’s individual character.
Identification and condition
Distinguish paintings, original drawings, fine art prints and printed reproductions. For prints, examine technique, numbering, publisher, sheet dimensions and image dimensions. Keep receipts, ownership history, labels and photographs of the front, back and signature. Describe fading, damp damage, paint losses and repairs where relevant. A similar signature or familiar composition does not authenticate a specific item.
Read more about lithography, artist signatures, provenance and ownership history, Christian Krohg.
Browse related items in our online shop.
Contact OBA about selling and assessment (Norwegian page).
