Spring Evening and Rainbow

There are no known descriptions or photographs of this painting. The title indicates that it depicts a landscape with a rainbow in the evening light.

The painting was exhibited at Astrup’s solo exhibition at Bergens kunstforening (art society) in 1908. The painting was not for sale, and it was returned to Astrup in Jølster after the exhibition. Three years later it was part of Astrup’s exhibition at Kunstnerforbundet (artists’ association) in Oslo. On that occasion, Joachim Grieg (1849–1932), who was a consul in Bergen, is recorded as the owner. Grieg is also down as the owner on Astrup’s list from 1927. After that, the history of the work is unknown.

In preparation for the exhibition in 1908, Astrup ordered frames for several of his works. These include “Springtime Evening and Rainbow”, which the artist records as measuring “54 x 46 cm”. It is unclear which is the height and which is the width, but bearing in mind that the subject is an evening in spring with a rainbow, The Parsonage Garden (K103) could be a match. The latter is 44.7 cm high and 53 cm wide, and its provenance is unknown prior to 1980. Since there are no descriptions or photographs to support this hypothesis, for now “Springtime Evening with Rainbow” has been recorded as an unknown painting.