“The Mountain Myrhorn in Jostedal”
Today, we travel to Norway.
“The Mountain Myrhorn in Jostedal” is a beautiful gouache on paper landscape painting by the Danish Romantic artist of Norwegian descent, Johannes Flintoe, from 1834.
Myrhorn, sometimes spelled Myrhyrna, or Myrhønna, is a mountain peak in Norway, east of Jostedal valley in Breheimen National Park. It exhibits a classic cone shape that rises to 1,480 meters (4,856 feet) above sea level. Due to its steepness, it is extremely difficult to climb. The first recorded summit ascent was not until 1970. For this reason, it is often regarded as Norway’s “Matterhorn”.
Flintoe took several treks into the hinterland of Norway during the 1820s and 1830s to find more wild views and subjects to paint. He was the first artist in Norway to do so. What’s interesting is that although he was painting the wilds of Norway, his work still adhered to the romanticism of the day. The result is an almost pastoral mountain view. Seven years later, in 1841, Flintoe used the same striking mountain profile for one of the wall motifs he painted on the Bird Room of the Oslo Palace in Norway.
Flintoe was the first Scandinavian artist to paint the mountains of Norway as their main subject. His landscapes were painted in the romanticism style, as this piece here. Not surprisingly, the beauty of Norway’s mountains and fjords became a hugely popular subject for Norwegian artists. Flintoe traversed into inhospitable regions to document the terrain with authenticity, though with a slightly romantic tinge.
“The Mountain Myrhorn in Jostedal” is currently on display at the Nasjonalmuseet or the National Museum in Oslo, Norway.
For more on Johannes Flintoe, please visit his short biography here.
You can find more artists to learn about here.
