Midsummer Eve Bonfire
undefined undefined undefined, 1915 - 1915, 1360 x 1960 mm
KODE Kunstmuseer og komponisthjem (KODE Art Museums and Composer Homes), Sparebankstiftelsen DNB (The DNB Savings Bank Foundation)
Midsummer Eve Bonfire is the largest of Astrup’s midsummer pictures. In the clear summer night the mountains appear deep purple. At the centre of the picture, the great midsummer bonfire crackles, and several other small bonfires are visible in the background. The couple in the middle ground are flirting and dancing, while the woman to the right in the picture appears to be pregnant. The image is a reminder of the erotic as well as ritualistic aspects of the Midsummer Eve celebration. The smoke from the fire takes on strange shapes, and together with the bewitching, enlarged shadows cast by the light of the bonfire, they evoke a mystical atmosphere. Astrup painted the picture on commission from Rasmus Meyer, but Meyer died before it was completed. In Astrup’s letters we can read that the painting was a source of considerable frustration. He wanted the picture to encompass all of his earlier Midsummer Eve pictures, but struggled to achieve the desired effect.
1915-1916:
Nikolai Astrup
(1880-1928)
1916-1932:
Joachim Grieg
(1849-1932)
1932-1937:
Henriette Grieg
(1858-1937)
1937-1942:
Bergen Billedgalleri
-1944-1944-:
Harald Holst Halvorsen
(1889-1960)
-1955-1990-:
Niels Werring
(1897-1990)
-1990-2005:
Bergens Kunstforening. Nikolai Astrup 1880–1928. Mindeutstilling. Bergen: Bergens kunstforening, 1928.
Bergens Kunstforening. Utstilling av vestlandsk malerkunst. Bergen: Bergens kunstforening, 1922.
Kunstnernes Hus. Nikolai Astrup. Malerier og tresnitt. Oslo: Kunstnernes Hus, 1955.
Loge, Øystein. Nikolai Astrup: tradisjon og overskridelse. [Høvikodden]: Henie-Onstad kunstsenter, 1994.