Tuesday, August 19, 2008

Mountain vacation 2008. The most lovely view

Rondane is famous in this country partly through a painting which 'everyone' has seen and which tends to crop up in the most varied places. It's one of those completely classic things in the history of Norwegian art.

The painting is called Vinternatt i Rondane (A Winter's Night in Rondane) and was painted in 1913-14 by the great Norwegian painter Harald Sohlberg. Oil on canvas. It can be seen today in the National Gallery in Oslo. It looks like this:

Today the spot where Sohlberg took his view from (people tend to say 'the place where he painted it', but I tend to doubt that considering how incredibly cold it must have been there at the time ;-) has been turned into a lookout point so that tourists and other interested parties can stand at a rather fancily designed concrete promontory and see the exact same view that Sohlberg painted. The summer before last I stopped by there with my parents and a friend, and was able to take this - in my own humble opinion - absolutely beautiful picture of Sohlberg's beautiful view. Maybe the best photo I've ever taken. I think it was an incredibly lucky shot.

And somewhere in there is our cabin ... :-)

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

What a great time you must have had also getting that picture taken, love the painting too, i do love art, Thankyou for your blog

Leisha Camden said...

Thank you for your comment and compliment. :-) I really appreciate it. I did have a great time, both that time (when I took the photo) and this year ... I always love going up to the mountains, it's a great escape from everything. :-)

As I said, this is probably the best picture I've ever taken, but I do have lots more pictures coming up, so I hope you'll check back if you get the chance. :-)

Rose Johnston said...

That is one spectacular view!! Love the painting too but your photo is gorgeous! Cant wait to see some more of your photos!!
Hugs xxx

Leisha Camden said...

Yeah, I was pretty happy with that shot. :-) IMO it's actually better than it would have been if it had been sunny, because the clouds and the light coming through them create such a dramatic effect.

I don't think any of the pictures I've taken this year are as good as this one, but I hope you'll enjoy seeing them anyway. :-) Anne Ida saw them in the metaphorical flesh last summer, remember? :-)