Norway - Frognerparken

Oslo is home to Frogner Park, a municipal open space famed for the stunning Vigeland sculpture installation. Over 200 bronze and granite works by Gustav Vigeland depicting, I assume in his words, the breadth of human emotion and experience. The works took Vigeland from 1924 to his death in 1943 to complete (designing and modelling each piece himself) and when you look at the body of work it is truly a remarkable achievement.

I am sure it is documented somewhere but I wonder how that came about. Did he wake up one morning and decide to undertake his magnum opus et arduum ? Or did it come about piecemeal over time? I guess I could find out…

The dates are significant because the latter years were dominated by the German occupation of Norway when, I understand, the park was used by the occupation forces for military and recreational purposes and Norwegians were prohibited from access.

But to move on from that unfortunate period from all our histories and to get back to the park. It is more than a sculpture park, it is a huge open space of paths and trees, rose gardens and a lake. The lake will probably cause a level of anxiety for those with youngsters as it is below the general level of the park and the land dropping down to it in parts is quite steep.

Steep enough for a three-year old to get up a good head of steam before being miraculously rescued by a fit and agile parent. However, as long as you have your wits about you and eyes everywhere (and what parent doesn’t) then there are some nice lawned areas to picnic on both near and far from the water.

We walked there from where we were staying in Oscar's Gate heading NNW along Gyldenloves Gate (after a brief detour to the Apent Bakery on Inkognito Terrasse). It took us about 40 minutes allowing for the detour and allowing for said three-year old. Mostly it was along quiet residential roads. However there is a metro at Majorstuen and from there you can head SSW down the Route 161 ( you can't miss it). The walk will take about 15 minutes. The 161 is a relatively busy road.

There is a Google Map at the foot of this page for reference if you are planning a visit.

We have visited the park twice now, once in July and again in November. The images included here are from the summer visit. The November visit was more methodical in its photography whereas the summer visit was all about impression and look and feel. I’ll post the November pictures sometime in the future.

Below are a few of the images of the site, showing some of the Vigeland sculptures including the giant column in the centre. It also shows a weird figure clasping a woman to it. This is referred to as Kvinne og øgle (woman and lizard) and is one of four corner statues in the installation.

Apparently it is not meant to be any particular mythical beast but a representation of a personal struggle as seen by the observer. Such feelings as sadness, lust, addiction, fear, mortality - whatever your personal lizard might be.

Sadly I only took a small number of pictures of the many figures that are laid out on the approach to this central point. Those will have to wait until the second post on Frognerparken.

It has been difficult trying to find a hook to make a link to my novels and so on this occasion I’ll be blunt. Here is a link to the Collector of Tales if you are looking for a story in a slightly different style.

Below are a selection of images of the park and sculptures.