The Grieg Art Collection.

The Grieg Collection has strengthened the representation of female artists with acquisitions of Hjørdis Landmark, Cecilie Dahl, Julie de Holmberg Krohn and Asta Nørregaard, and the contemporary artists AK Dolven, Emilie Henriette Finne and Siren Blytt. The collection also expanded the focus on Xan Krohn, with 7 new paintings.

Grieg Kunstsamling (The Grieg Art Collection) is an art collection owned by the Grieg family and the Grieg Foundation. It is exhibited in the magnificent room housing the collection at Oseana kunst- og kultursenter.

It started carefully and in a small way, but eventually Per Grieg Sr. developed what he himself describes as an all-consuming and joyful interest in art. This personal interest is the soil from which the collection has grown. It contains works by key Norwegian artists such as J.C. Dahl, Harriet Backer, Edvard Munch, Peder Balke, Nikolai Astrup, Inger Sitter and Ole Jørgen Ness.

Along with the collection came the desire to share. This has had great ripple effects on the communities of Os and Bjørnafjorden as well as the whole of Vestland. The art collection stands as the main pillar of Oseana, and it is the very reason for its existence.

Per Grieg Sr.’s art collection initially focused on what he himself refers to as a ‘golden age’ in Norwegian painting, one dominated by artists such as Christian Krohg, Frits Thaulow, Eilif Peterssen, Harald Sohlberg and Ludvik Karsten. In later years it has grown to include works by central artists from several periods in Norwegian art history.

Other Nordic countries are also represented with works by artists such as Carl Larsson and Anders Zorn. More recently, the Grieg Foundation has acquired art by key contemporary Norwegians such as Marit Victoria Wulff Andreassen, Sverre Bjertnes and Kjell Erik Killi Olsen.

Being aware of its responsibility as an important local actor, the collection features works by artists with a connection to Vestland, examples being Xan Krohn and Julie de Holmberg Krohn, Knud and Nils Bergslien and Bernt Tunold, as well as contemporary artists such as Jan Erik Willgohs, Line Hvorslef, Siren Blytt and Bjarne Svanøe.

The Grieg-Gaarden building in the centre of Bergen, which houses the main offices of the Grieg Group, was initially designed to house the art collection. Now, however, the holdings have grown larger than what the building can accommodate. Grieg-gaarden and the art collection collaborate on rotating exhibitions, thus giving visitors to Oseana the opportunity to experience the entire collection. The original idea was to build a separate art museum, a ‘mini-national gallery’ for the collection, in order to make it accessible to the wider public. Through a unique public-private partnership, and with the Grieg Foundation at the forefront, Oseana kunst- og kultursenter became a reality in 2011. Oseana lies between the sky and the fjord, in the midst of Vestland’s magnificent nature. In addition to housing the Grieg Art Collection, it includes a cultural centre with a theatre stage, a cinema and a restaurant.

The gallery at Oseana is 600 m2. The room’s large glass façade has a view looking out onto the fjord Bjørnafjorden, the mountain Melderskin and the glacier Folgefonna. Next to this gallery space is Galleri Hvelvet, a smaller room for temporary exhibitions.

In line with Per Grieg Sr.’s intentions, our hope is that the Grieg Art Collection at Oseana kunst- og kultursenter will be an important addition to the art collections in Vestland, and at the same time, enrich the life of the local community.

”Art is something that penetrates your faculties of reception, enters your soul and gives you an extraordinary experience.”

Per Grieg Sr.