Viking Cruises

W I N T E R I S S U E 3 0 Born in 1923 at Steinkjer in Nord-Trøndelag, Norway, Weidemann started his art training at the Bergen Art School in 1939 before relocating to Oslo a few years later to study at the Norwegian National Academy of Fine Arts. In the year he left the academy (1942), he held his first solo exhibition. WAR YEARS His success, however, was overshadowed by the occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany, and Weidemann joined the Norwegian resistance movement. He was arrested but managed to escape to Sweden in 1944. There, an accident involving an explosive charge left him temporarily blinded. He only ever regained sight in his left eye. Art historian Karin Hellandsjø has suggested this blindness may be behind the direction his art was to take— "towards an explosion of colour and light." AN ABSTRACT STYLE Throughout the 1940s and 1950s, Weidemann experimented with different artistic ideas and eventually found his style in an expressive, lyrically abstract art with nature as inspiration. He did not use concrete, recognisable motifs but depicted experiences and impressions, as well as colours and shapes from the natural world in an abstract way. Many of his paintings in this style are characterised by light hues of blue, pink, yellow, green and violet. EXHIBITIONS AND RECOGNITION His breakthrough exhibition took place at Blomqvist's fine art gallery in Oslo in 1946, and other notable showcases of his work took place twice at the Bergen International Festival and at the Venice Biennale in 1967. The National Museum in Oslo owns more than 30 of his paintings. Among the most renowned pieces on display are Brytningstid (1968), Epleblomst (1973) and Blomst i sne (1995), translated respectively as Breaking Time, Apple Flower and Flower in Snow. Viking is the proud owner of an extensive collection of Weidemann's art, including two untitled paintings from 1963 and 1976 showcased on board the Viking Sea and Impressions from Nature (1984) on board the Viking Orion. JAKOB WEIDEMANN Pivotal in introducing abstract art to Norwegians after World War II, painter Jakob Weidemann is considered one of the most influential artists in Norway. viking.com | 11 ARTIST PROFILE

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