The exhibition runs from 2 May to 1 November 2026. Double guided tours are scheduled every Sunday at 13:00 and 14:00.
The retrospective offers a broad view of Fjell’s artistic practice, spanning painting, drawing, scenography and art in public spaces. Its emphasis falls on the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s, with particular attention to painting, drawing and scenography. The exhibition is curated by Kathrine Lund and Martine Hoff Jensen.
It examines how the power and seductive quality of beauty in Fjell’s imagery may have obscured the content of his pictures, whose stories and messages can be read through figures, symbols and the historical contexts in which they were created. Fjell is presented as an artist influenced by both international modernists and Norwegian folk art, and as someone who worked across considerably more media than has traditionally been emphasised. The exhibition includes known depictions of women, mother-and-child motifs, innovative scenographies for the National Theatre and three major public-art commissions.
Among the works highlighted are 'Et møte i Sosialistisk Kulturfront' (1936), 'Kalven rauter' (1938) and 'Myrull' (1943). Other highlighted works include 'Historien om fugleredet' (1931), 'Illustrasjon til Fragment av et magisk liv av Claes Gill' (1939) and 'Modellenes hyllest' (1936).
Drawing was a fundamental part of Fjell’s practice throughout his life, functioning both as an independent medium and as a space for exploration and pictorial invention.
