Oslo: Vigelandsparken

Thursday, 14 July

What a gorgeous day we had for wandering around Oslo and exploring it from land and from water. Just magnificent.

We woke up at 6:30a to sunshine — a great way to start the day after our mostly-overcast experience in the Arctic. It was a restful night. I think it even got dark overnight, but I couldn’t say for sure since I slept through it; I must have been really exhausted.

Our “jello-plans” for Oslo had their first jiggle this morning. With rain in the forecast for tomorrow, and not a drop of liquid sunshine mentioned for today, we decided to postpone our museum visits and do some of the outside activities that were on our sightseeing list.

This Google Maps image shows the places that are on our priority-sightseeing list.

Breakfast was a couple of PB&J sandwiches eaten in the room as we lazily prepared for the day ahead. Having been on the go since 30 June, we were having difficulty getting our butts in gear, but we finally made it out of the room around 9:00a. Good thing we had comfortable shoes to wear; our feet got quite a workout!

Our destination for the morning was Vigelandsparken (Vigeland Park) via the Slottet (Royal Palace). Have you ever heard of using palace grounds as a short cut to get from one place to another? Well, you can do just that in Oslo. Of course, we couldn’t just walk through without taking photographs. I’ll keep those images, as well as others from around the city, for a separate post and just go straight to Vigelandsparken — even though the neighborhood-route we walked to get there was rather circuitous.

The park’s claim of being “the world’s largest sculpture park featuring the works of a single artist” may well be true. Located within Frogner Park, a public green-space that dates back to the turn of the 20th century, Vigelandsparken was built between 1939-1949. It is home to 200+ sculptures modeled in clay by a favorite son of Norway, Gustav Vigeland, and carved/casted by professional craftsmen. The number of figures represented in the sculptures number over 600. (By the way, there’s no admittance charge for this amazing park.)

Glimpse of the bridge, fountain, and Monolith from the entrance to vigelandsparken.

Visitors enter the park through a very decorative and imposing wrought iron gate. A distant glimpse of the sculpture lined bridge, fountain, and monolith hints at what’s in store without revealing too much. The further one moves into the park, the more jaw-dropping the scene becomes.

It would have been even more inspiring had the crowds visiting the park not been so big. As one of Norway’s most popular tourist attractions, the number of visitors wasn’t a surprise, but I couldn’t help but be disappointed anyway. Yeah, I know — get over it Erin, right? There’s a reason why we’re usually out and about at the crack of dawn ;-)

Past the bridge is one of the focal points of the park — the fountain.

At first glance, some of the sculptures — the Monolith in particular — could easily be mistaken for erotica. But they aren’t. Vigeland’s naked forms are designed to depict humanity in all its forms — from birth to death. Why he chose to use nudes? Well, I’d have to do some research to find the answer to that question. But if I had to guess, the lack of clothing strips humanity down to the basics and makes all equal in life and in death.

The sculptures depict people of all ages. Some are single figures; others are groups of figures. All are designed to represent the relationship between man and woman; the relationship between adults and children. Interestingly, descriptions of the sculptures are very basic (as you’ll note on the park’s website). Old Man; Three Old Women; Man and Child — very basic indeed. It’s almost as though Vigeland wants us to interpret them ourselves based on our own life experiences.

Vigeland himself designed the 328-foot (100 m) long granite bridge that was constructed in 1914. It is the gateway to the rest of the park. At each end of the bridge are granite columns topped with sculptures that show a human locked in fight with a giant lizard; they represent mankind’s fight against evil. The parapets of the bridge are lined with 58 bronze people-sculptures.

Joy of Parenthood — that’s what comes to my mind.

Left: Sinnatagen (Angry Boy) is one of the most popular sculptures in the park;
note how his left hand has turned golden from visitors rubbing it for good luck.

Right: What looks like a man juggling babies is titled “Man chasing four geniuses.”

Next we stopped at one of the main features of Vigelandsparken — the most-fascinating Fontenen (Fountain). Vigeland first sketched the idea for the Fountain in 1906. During WWI, he expanded this sketch to include the granite sculptures and the Monolith that lie beyond. The Fountain, which was finally installed in 1947, is meant to depict life from cradle to grave — an eternal cycle that has neither a beginning nor an end. The theme continues in the bronze reliefs that decorate the outer edge of the Fountain. Only 60 of the 100+ reliefs that Vigeland designed were used. There was so much detail to see here, some hidden by the flowing water, that one could take months trying to digest it all.

The 20 tree groups were modeled between 1906-1914.

The six men holding up the vessel symbolize toiling with the burden of life as water, the source of life, cascades around them.

The tree groups represent Man’s relationship with nature.

A few of the reliefs that decorate the base of the Fountain.

Passing through decorative wrought iron gates that continued Vigeland’s theme for his sculptures, we entered the plaza where the granite sculptures and the Monolitten (Monolith) that Vigeland added to his Fountain design are installed.

Intricately detailed gates lead to the Monolith plaza.

WOW!!! That was my first, second, and third reaction upon seeing the Monolith up close. No wonder it took Vigeland 10 months in 1924-25 to create the clay model of the column. The single granite block from which it was appropriately carved — after all, monolith does mean one stone — was brought to the site in 1927. It took another two years before three stone carvers began the detailed work that took them 14 years to finish. Vigeland died shortly thereafter.

The 46-foot (14 m) tall Monolith consists of a base and a column of 121 intertwined figures, with those at the bottom seemingly more inert — perhaps from the weight of life? There are many interpretations of what the column represents — the resurrection of Man, the struggle for existence inherent in life, the longing for the spiritual and the divine … take your pick.

As the museum website puts it: “The people are drawn towards heaven, not only characterized by sadness and controlled despair, but also delight and hope, next to a feeling of togetherness, carefully holding one another tight in this strange sense of salvation.”

The statues and the people in these images provide perspective for the Monolith.

The 36 larger-than-life granite figures are installed in three concentric rings on the steps leading up to the Monolith. The stone medium gives a sense of strength, as does the chunky feel of the statues. These are not delicate, curvaceous figures; they are not idealized depictions of people. In many ways, we can identify with them because of their realistic nature. I mean, I can totally see myself in the old woman in the statue below — 30-40 years from now. How about you? Can you see yourself in any of the sculptures? The figures of children seem more playful — perhaps because they have not been weighed down by the realities of life yet. At least that’s my interpretation.

From bottom right to top left: Two Old Women; Old Woman Resting Against Old Man;
Two Old Men — are you sensing a theme here?

I would have sat down on the steps to contemplate life, or even to just enjoy the beautiful day. I resisted the temptation for fear of being run over by the crowds that came, one wave after another. Instead, I walked around, clicking the shutter whenever I found a statue that people weren’t crawling all over.

Three Old Women — hunched over by their life experiences perhaps.

Playing horsey with the kids — fun, fun, fun — that’s what it looks like to me.

Sharing wisdom garnered from life’s experiences.

A quiet moment of shared intimacy.

Passing through the gate on the far side of the plaza, we continued towards the final focal point of the park, stopping at the sundial en route. I would love to have photographed this piece with the Monolith in the background, but that would have had me shooting into the sun, so this less-interesting angle of view had to suffice. Another reason to be out and about early :-)

The wheel of life glimpsed through the sundial.

At the far end of the long axis of the park is the Livshjulet (Wheel of Life), which was modeled in 1933-34. The garland of women, children, and men clutching each other represents eternity. When this technically challenging piece was completed, Vigeland is quoted as having said: “I have never been as accomplished as I am now.”

I’ve seen this statue photographed with the rest of the park visible through the circle. Alas, I would have had to be 10-feet tall to get that perspective, so once again, a less-interesting angle had to suffice.

Man's journey from cradle to grave, through happiness and grief, through fantasy,
hope and wishes of eternity.

Around 1:00p, three hours after arriving at the park, we finally took a load off. The temperature had warmed up to 68F (20C). It felt downright hot to us, so we sought out a bench in the shade for an al fresco picnic overlooking the sights and sounds of the park.

Lunch with a view.

I loved our visit to Vigelandsparken — so much to explore and enjoy; so much to ponder. We never even got to the Vigeland Museum (admission charged), which is located on the grounds. One could definitely spend the entire day at the park and not be bored. My one regret is the crowds we found crawling all over the place. Since the park is open 24 hours, going there very early or very late in the day would be the thing to do should we find ourselves in Oslo again at some point in the future.

Next up — another jiggle in our Oslo sightseeing plans.