On our orientation drive through Oslo, we passed a gigantic wooden rack, draped in shirts (photo below, left). Ylva reminded us that Norwegians dry fish on racks. Doing some research later, I discovered that the piece is entitled We Are Still The Same, by Finnish artist Kaarina Kaikkonen. Describing her work on the internet, she says, "In every shirt there is a story, because someone with a warm heart has been wearing it. All kind of people are together here, but we are no wiser than fish. We still act like fish, always going in a group, following each other in the same direction, like a shoal of fish. We are part of nature, and nature is within us."

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We were disappointed to learn that the National Gallery was closed, as the city is relocating the art gallery to a new site. We decided to try the Munch Museum instead. The exhibit was as much about the history of the museum and the historical events around it, as it was about Munch and his famous paintings. We did learn that there were multiple Screams, and various art thefts (including one of the Scream paintings) had occurred at the museum. Munch painted the Madonna five times. The painting on display at the museum was badly damaged during a robbery in 2004, and a few holes remain. Munch once said, "...a good painting with ten holes was better than ten bad paintings without holes."

 

Several days later, we toured a special exhibit of Munch's paintings at the KODE museums in Bergen. There, paintings were exhibited chronologically, along with descriptions of the evolution of Munch's painting style, subject matter, and concurrent mental state.

 

Munch is buried in an Oslo cemetery. On our last day in Oslo, we took a neighborhood walk and found his grave.