Image: Thor Brødreskift / KODE Art museums and composer homes, Bergen
Kode Art Museums and Composer Homes in Bergen is in the final weeks of its major exhibition dedicated to Frits Thaulow, which opened on 14 February 2026 and closes at Permanenten on 23 August 2026. The museum describes the show as a rare opportunity to see a large number of Thaulow’s paintings gathered together, with many loans included and several works not shown publicly in Norway for a long time.
Thaulow (1847–1906) is identified by Kode as a central figure in the development of modern art in Norway. The exhibition traces his career from the 1870s, when he trained as a maritime painter, through his role as a fresh and colourful plein-air painter in the 1880s, and on to his later international career in Paris. Kode says the presentation is chronological and broad, bringing together key themes and motifs from across his practice.
The museum notes that Thaulow first shocked and delighted Norwegian art life with his outdoor paintings at the beginning of the 1880s, and later became internationally recognised for virtuoso images of moving water. After settling permanently in France in 1892, he was known as the painter of streams, winter and night. The exhibition also places his work in relation to artistic impulses such as naturalism, impressionism, art nouveau and symbolism.
A particular focus is Thaulow’s connections to western Norway. Kode says he painted several pictures from Jæren early in his career and spent a productive period in Stord in the late 1880s, which resulted in a series of landscape images. According to the museum, several of these works are shown together for the first time in this exhibition, alongside motifs from Bergen. Kode has also acquired a new work for the occasion, 'Den første snøen, Stord' (1890), which is being shown in Norway for the first time in many years.
The exhibition includes loans from a number of collections in Norway and abroad, including 'Vinter i Norge' (1886) from Musée d’Orsay in Paris. Kode says the painting was purchased by the French state when Thaulow received the Legion of Honour for his contribution to the 1889 Paris World Exposition. Other works named on the exhibition page include 'Solnedgang over elven (L’Elle ved Quimperlé)' (1901), 'Alkejegeren' (1892), 'Hjemvendende tømmerkjørere' (1892), 'Kone som skjærer korn, Stord' (1889) and 'Rød kirkevegg' (1897).
Kode is also pairing the exhibition with a separate music programme, reflecting the artist’s relationship to music. The museum says Thaulow was an active amateur cellist who knew several composers personally, and it is presenting concerts in the exhibition on Wednesdays and Fridays from 10 June to 21 August. The programme is titled 'Debussy i Thaulow-utstillingen' and will run at Permanenten, with 30-minute performances of Norwegian and French music.
The exhibition is presented in cooperation with Haugar Kunstmuseum and is curated by Øystein Sjåstad in collaboration with Tove Haugsbø from Kode. A richly illustrated catalogue is planned alongside the show. Kode says the exhibition is supported by Sparebankstiftelsen DNB.
