Frida Hansen
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Frida Hansen | |
|---|---|
 Hansen in 1896 | |
| Born | Frederikke Boletta Petersen 8 March 1855 |
| Died | 12 March 1931 (aged 76) Oslo, Norway |
| Known for | Textile art, tapestries |
| Movement | Art Nouveau |
Frida Hansen (8 March 1855 – 12 March 1931) was a Norwegian textile artist in the Art Nouveau style. She has been described as a bridge between Norwegian and European tapestry, and several of her weaving designs are considered among the best made in recent European textile art. Her works are owned by a number of museums, including the National Museum – Museum of Applied Art in Oslo, Drammen Museum, Stavanger Art Museum and the Nordic Museum in Stockholm.[1][2]
Frederikke Boletta Petersen was born in Hillevåg, Stavanger, Norway. Her parents were Mathilde F. Helliesen (1824–1915) and Peter Sickerius Petersen (1811–1875). She grew up in a very wealthy home. Her father was a merchant and head of J. A. Köhler & Co.[1] Before she married, she was determined to be a painter and took drawing and painting lessons from Bernhard Hanssen, Kitty Kielland and Johan Jacob Bennetter. In 1873, she married merchant Hans Wilhelm Severin Hansen (1842–1920), the brother of painter Carl Sundt-Hansen. When Frida's father died in 1875 the couple moved to Köhlerhuset in Hillevåg. Frida eagerly engaged in building a garden on the property.[3]
In 1888 the city was hit by an economic downturn. Plough & Sundt, the family business that her husband ran, went bankrupt. He fled abroad for a few years, and Frida was left with sole responsibility for the family. Two of her three children died. In order to obtain an income, she started an embroidery business in her own home. In the embroidery shop old tapestries were repaired and from doing that repair work she became interested in the ancient techniques that were used to create the images.[4]
In 1889 she was a participant in the first course in weaving in the country, hosted by Randi Blehr at Lærdal in Sogn. When the introductory course was given, Hansen acquired a warp-weighted loom, and she quickly began to create her own images. After a short time she started selling tapestries, and she also had exhibitions in several Norwegian cities. In May 1892 Hansen moved to Oslo and founded Atelier for national Tæppevæving, complete with a dyeing workshop. Her knowledge about dyeing yarn was the basis for the yarn Norges Husflidslag had for sale.[5][6]
Studies abroad
In the spring of 1895 Hansen was able to study abroad, first to Cologne to study medieval art and then to Paris to study life drawing. The impetus she brought from abroad was crucial to her development. In Europe, the prevailing art movement was in the process of change from the national and tradition-bound to symbolism and Art Nouveau (Jugendstil).[7]
Det norske Billedvæveri
From 1897 to 1906, Hansen ran Det norske Billedvæveri, a workshop which mainly worked out of her patterns. There she engaged in drawing, weaving and teaching. At the 1900 World's Fair in Paris, Hansen was awarded the gold medal for her tapestry Melkeveien ('The Milky Way'). The carpet was already purchased for the Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe Hamburg. Experimental techniques led to a special transparent weave, which Hansen patented. This technique was used to create porters or room dividers.[8]
After the turn of the century, Art Nouveau gradually went out of fashion, and by 1920 Hansen's art was no longer as much in demand. In 1915 Hansen received the King's Medal of Merit in gold for her work as a textile artist. From 1926 until her death in 1931, Hansen worked on the St. Olav wall tapestry in Stavanger Cathedral. Hansen died in Oslo and was buried at the cemetery of Ullern Church.
