Art Sunday; Hans Dahl

Norwegian Painter Hans Dahl (1849-1937)

Hans Dahl, born19 February 1849, Granvin, died 27 July 1937, was a Norwegian painter, famous for his paintings of Norwegian fjords and surrounding landscapes.

Dahl had his first exhibition in Düsseldorf in 1876. He lived in Düsseldorf until 1888, when he moved to Berlin. Almost every summer he was back in Norway painting.

In 1893, he commissioned his summer residence to be built on the banks of the Sognefjord at Balestrand. This was a popular and picturesque area frequented by artists of the time.

After 1919, Dahl no longer traveled to Berlin, he lived permanently in Balestrand which became a popular tourist destination in western Norway.

 The German emperor, Kaiser Wilhelm II, became one of Dahl's most loyal patrons, conferring a professorship upon him in 1910, and visiting Dahl in Balestrand several summers in a row.


Dahl resisted the transition in art from Romanticism to Modernism. In the 1890s a new school of art arose, and artists like Dahl became unfashionable.

He was openly criticised by the art historian Jens Thiis and several of his fellow artists especially by Christian Krohg.

Krohg was one of the leading figures in the transition from romanticism to naturalism which characterized Norwegian art in this period.

Dahl often described the scenery of the western part of Norway in brilliant sunshine with smiling people in national costumes.

His vibrant colors and charming portrayals of young Norwegian girls in their national costume are simplistic but have remained popular.

Hans Dahl was married to Helene Bewer, the daughter of the German painter Clemens Bewer (1820-1884). Their son was the Norwegian painter Hans Andreas Dahl (1881-1919), who died of tuberculosis at the age of 37.

In 1902 Dahl was appointed knight of the Royal Norwegian Order of St. Olav, 1st class. Hans Dahl died in Balestrand in Sogn og Fjordane during 1937. His grave is located in the churchyard of Tjugum.

Music by Altan, an Irish folk music group.