Painter of Northern Light
The Norwegian landscape and marine painter
merged the Romantic movement's spiritual vein of naturalism with an
expressiveness rarely equaled by his contemporaries. Born in humble
circumstances in what was then a northern hinterland, Balke trained as an
artisan before pursuing his aim to become an artist in the broader European tradition,
which led to formative contacts with Caspar David Friedrich and Johan Christian
Dahl. From the 1840s onward, Balke searched for ever more personal means to
convey the wild beauty of Norway, producing dramatic, even hallucinatory
paintings that reject conventional fine-art techniques in favor of radical
simplifications of form and color. Balke seems to have ceased painting after
the 1870s, and he was essentially forgotten until the 20th century. In recent
years, however, he has been rediscovered by artists, collectors, and scholars
alike.
This exhibition (10.04.2017 - 09.07.2017) is the first in the United States to
focus on this strikingly singular, visionary painter. It will bring together 17
paintings by Balke borrowed from private collections, presented in context with
paintings by his compatriots drawn from The Met collection. This is a unique
opportunity to explore the work of an artist who focused on those aspects of
art and nature that inspire awe known as the Sublime. (MET New York)