Events

Harriet Backer (1845–1932) was one of Norway’s most pioneering and prominent painters of the 19th century. It is high time her art was introduced to a broader audience. To this end, the National Museum is collaborating with KODE Art Museums, Bergen, on an exhibition of Backer’s work that will tour internationally to Stockholm, Paris, Oslo and Bergen. The first large-scale exhibition devoted to Backer in 25 years, this show will highlight what was innovative about her art and take a closer look at her central role in Norwegian cultural life. The exhibition opens in the Light Hall in 2023, before moving on to Nationalmuseum in Stockholm and the Musée d’Orsay in Paris, before concluding at KODE, Bergen, in 2025.

In spring and summer 2024, Nationalmuseum will be hosting an exhibition on Harriet Backer who, besides Edvard Munch, was Norway’s most influential artist in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Backer was one of the most prominent colourists and portrayers of light and atmosphere in interiors. The exhibition is the result of a collaboration between the National Museum in Oslo, Kode in Bergen, Musée d’Orsay in Paris and Nationalmuseum in Stockholm. Harriet Backer (1845–1932) was a pioneer on many levels and the exhibition highlights the innovative qualities of her art, as well as her central position in the Norwegian art scene at the turn of the twentieth century. How did she become such a prominent figure in Norwegian art? Why did a whole generation of young painters, men and women alike, choose to become her pupils and successors?