Art historian Marit Paasche discusses her critically acclaimed book Søvn og lykke - norsk kunst og det moderne gjennombruddet (Sleep and Happiness - Norwegian Art and the Modern Breakthrough) in conversation with Inger M.L. Gudmundson, a curator at the Stavanger Art Museum.
The book is based on in-depth studies of the four artists J.C. Dahl, Catharine Hermine Kølle, Aasta Hansteen, and Christian Krohg. The selection of these four is intentional: the men are canonized and form a well-known part of Norwegian art history, portrayed as in harmony with their time. In contrast, the women have had a much more ambiguous, if not invisible, presence. The book explores how these four have been read, understood, and treated by art history. It is certainly a feminist project, but an essential point is that the limitations do not only reside in the understanding of female artistry; they equally affect male artists.
Interpretations and understandings of the works of Christian Krohg and J.C. Dahl are characterized by the same one-dimensional and insufficient readings and analyses that many female artists face.