Where to See Edvard Weie

Edvard Weie (1879-1943) was a Norwegian artist, primarily a painter. He is known for his contributions to Norwegian Expressionism. Weie's prints are less widely recognised than his paintings, but they offer insight into his artistic range. Weie studied at the Norwegian National Academy of Craft and Art Industry, and later with Johan Nordhagen. His early work shows the influence of Impressionism and Neo-romanticism, styles he moved away from as he developed his own Expressionist style. Weie's prints often feature similar subjects to his paintings: figures, portraits, and interiors. His printmaking techniques included woodcuts and lithographs. These prints tend to have strong lines and simplified forms. Colour is often used sparingly, but effectively, to create mood. Weie's prints are characterised by an emotional intensity and a focus on subjective experience, typical of Expressionism. Although not as numerous as his paintings, Weie's prints are valuable for understanding the breadth of his artistic vision. They are held in several public collections, including the National Museum in Oslo.

Edvard Weie was associated with Expressionism, an early 20th-century artistic movement. Expressionism is difficult to define with exactitude; unlike Cubism, Futurism, Dadaism, or Surrealism, Expressionism lacks a clear set of activities shared by its practitioners. It is sometimes viewed as a distinctly German phenomenon, flourishing for specific social and political reasons. However, it had a wider significance that goes beyond the transmission of habits and tricks. Expressionism seems to deal with universals: vision, subjectivism, distortion, and revolt. It involves interaction and interfusion of the arts: literature, art, and music. Strindberg can be called the first Expressionist. The interaction of Strindberg and Munch in Berlin and Paris was an event of great significance, since the flow of ideas from one medium to another was established.

Edvard Weie is known for his rocky landscapes and harbour views of Christianso, a tiny fortified island in the Baltic. He rendered these scenes in Cezanne-influenced blocks of colour. These paintings are considered his finest work and among the most concentrated bodies of landscape painting in Danish art.