Sonja Henie - Niels Onstad Collection

"Foreword

The Sonja Henie - Niels Onstad Collection includes works from the past 50 years of European pictorial art. It is the result of zealous collecting that began in the years betvveen the two World Wars, but which to a great extent belongs to the past 2-3 decades. Indeed the works from this period predominate, culminating in the French school of "lyrical abstracts" associated with Bissiere, Esteve, Bazaine, Manessier and de Staël. Their background is very vitally emphasized by Villon, Bonnard, Matisse and Juan Gris and vvith the following generation - first and foremost represented by the COBRA-group, the Frenchman Soulages, the Canadian Riopelle and the Norwegians Weidemann, Gundersen and Johannessen. Besides Edvard Munch these are the only Norwegians represented. Hartung, Francis, Hundertwasser, Tamayo and Lam are other notable non-French contributors.

The Sonja Henie - Niels Onstad Foundations were established in 1961 by separate deeds of conveyance. This donation - to date the largest private donation in Norway - comprises 100 works belonging to the Sonja Henie -Niels Onstad Collection, as well as the financial means to build and operate a museum that shall primarily house paintings, but that shall also foster interest in other art forms such as theater, music, ballet, film, and arts and crafts. The Foundations should also render support of a more general nature to the research of contemporary art and to other cultural purposes in Norway. The Foundations' Art Center was constructed during the years 1 966-68 at Hövikodden near Sandvika, on property made available by the Municipality of Baerum.

The hundred paintings belonging to the donors' collection are now on exhibit in the Art Center. However, of late the original collection has been more than doubled. This catalog covers the entire collection. The paintings listed which are already transferred to the Foundations are marked with an "x". The catalog has been compiled by the Foundations' research fellow Hans Jakob Brun in collaboration with the undersigned. It is mainly intended as a tool to aid researchers, museum people, critics and others interested in contemporary art. Reservation is taken to the documentation of a few of the works as these were not available for constant reference during the work on the manuscript. We hope to rectify this in a subsequent, revised edition.

Ole Henrik Moe

Oslo, August 1968"

Sonja Henie - Niels Onstad Foundations 1968, 1. painos. Pehmeäkantinen. Norjan-, englannin- ja ranskankielinen.

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