Norwegian Scenery 1644 - 1675

Allaert van Everdingen, a Dutch Golden Age painter, created this ‘Norwegian Scenery’ painting, using oil on canvas, during a time when the Dutch were expanding their understanding of the world. Everdingen never actually visited Norway; instead, his images were composed from his imagination, weaving together fact and fantasy. The rushing river dominates the image, carving its way through a landscape populated by small wooden huts and figures seemingly caught in quiet moments of daily life. High above, perched on a craggy peak, sits a castle, a symbol of power, and perhaps, of the romantic allure of the unknown. These invented landscapes speak to the complex relationship between the colonizer and the colonized. By constructing his own version of Norway, Everdingen participates in a long tradition of imagining ‘other’ lands. There is something unsettling about the way these images flatten the lived realities of real people. Instead, this painting emphasizes the drama and sublime beauty of an imagined place.