100 år

Oslo Kunstforening has chosen to honour the painter Erling Enger with a retrospective exhibition to mark his birth 100 years ago. The exhibition offers a rare opportunity to explore both the well-known and lesser-known aspects of Enger’s artistic career, including his paintings as an “amateur” and works from the first ten years of his artistic exploration and experimentation. However, we have chosen to place particular emphasis on his figurative paintings from the period 1940–1953; the very works that led to his breakthrough and earned him the label “the humourist of Norwegian painting.”. In his later years as an active painter, he moved away from figurative work and concentrated on forests, trees, and landscapes. Over time, he became equally known as a painter of the forest, and we are also showing examples of this body of work.

Some may miss several of his most famous paintings. However, Enger’s production was extensive, and our space is limited, so we have chosen to prioritize works that have not been shown in previous retrospective exhibitions or are not currently part of permanent collections.

The exhibition committee consists of Hans M. Fure, Kristin Røed, and Anne Marie Lorck. The latter wrote her master’s thesis on Enger in 1996 and therefore has a particularly deep insight into his artistic production.

The board of Oslo Kunstforening extends heartfelt thanks to Sigval Bergesen and wife Nanki's Charitable Foundation, Arild Wahlstrøm’s Fund, Thomas Fearnley Foundation, Heddy and Nils Astrup, Visual Artists’ Relief Fund, and the Norwegian Association of Art Societies, all of whom have contributed funding to make this exhibition possible. We also thank all private collectors and public institutions who have generously loaned works for the exhibition, and last but not least, we thank the Enger family for their inspiring and fruitful collaboration.

We warmly welcome the public to a colorful, painterly, and exciting exhibition.

Text translated by Oslo Kunstforening in 2025