Fantastic Norwegian Landscapes at Washington County Museum

Tuesday, 15 May 2007 00:02

Hagerstown, MD - A photo exhibit of Norwegian landscapes by Asle Svarverud will be exhibited at the Washington County Museum of Fine Arts in Hagerstown, until July 29.  The exhibit is titled “West, East & North of Norway: Photographs by Asle Svarverud”.  The museum is located at 91 Key Street, City Park, Hagerstown, MD. Admission is free. The museum’s founders, Mr. and Mrs. William H. Singer, Jr., lived for many years in Olden, Norway where Mr. Singer painted the magnificent scenery and engaged in philanthropy.

The Washington County Museum of Fine Arts celebrates 75^th anniversary with dramatic landscape photo exhibit of Norway, the country that inspired its founder, landscape painter William Singer.

Sponsored by the Royal Norwegian Embassy, the exhibit is in celebration of the Museum’s 75th anniversary and in recognition of the Singers’ ties with Norway.  Two paintings of William Singer hang on the wall of the private residence of the Norwegian Ambassador.

“Anna, I have found my country,” William Singer called to his wife when he first saw the Norwegian coast from a boat in 1903. Having spent several summers in Norway, the Singers eventually settled permanently in the country which would inspire the painter’s most famous works.

“I knew I had ’arrived’,” is how Mr. Svarverud describes a similar moment in 1986 when he saw the Norwegian island group of Lofoten for the first time.  “It was a bright sunny day, and there they were, the rugged peaks bathing in sun, snow covered and majestic,” said Svarverud. Every year since, Svarverud has spent weeks to months in Lofoten, by many considered among Norway’s most beautiful scenery.  Said Svarverud: “I always go back to the same landscape many times.  That way I can dig deeper and find the essence in each place for me.”

Asle Svarverud specializes in large-format, black and white landscape photographs, but the exhibit also includes works in color. The images include both dramatic vistas and intimate glimpses of the nature that so inspired William Singer.  Svarverud's striking images have been widely exhibited in Norway and have also been displayed in the United States.  Some of his photographs have hung on the walls at the Norwegian Embassy in Washington D.C. Svarverud’s book “Norwegian Landscapes” will be for sale in the Museum Shop.

The Washington County Museum of Fine Arts opened on September 16, 1931 as the focal point of Hagerstown’s beautiful City Park.  The Museum specializes in 19^th and 20^th century American art and holds over 6,000 pieces in its permanent collection.  This "crown jewel of Washington County" has been recognized as one of the finest small museums in the United States.  In 2006 and 2007 the Museum is celebrating its 75^th anniversary by offering complimentary studio art courses, lectures, films, chamber music concerts, and exhibitions from its permanent collection and traveling shows to the people of Washington County and visitors to the quad-state (MD, PA, VA, WV) region.  For more information on the Museum or its anniversary, please phone (301) 739-5727 or visit www.wcmfa.org

Asle Svarverud photos: www.museumsnett.no/alias/HJEMMESIDE/svarverud/photomenu.html News and information about Norway from the Norwegian Embassy: www.norway.org