I like the story of Ambrosia Tønnesen: This fearless woman who, just before she was about to get married, broke off her engagement and set out on a completely different and unconventional course for herself – and became Norway’s first professional female sculptor. As a person, she probably also caused a certain stir in the cityscape. She cut her hair very short, and was among the first women in Bergen to wear trousers. NEW OFFENDER WOMAN: Ambrosia Tønnesen (1859–1948). Photo: Synnøve des Bouvrie If you walk around the streets of Bergen today, you will find many busts and statues designed by her. But even if she has really left her mark, her name is relatively unknown. That is why it is so nice that Kode now shows her artistry in full. When I read about this upstart woman, I got excited. I have of course come across the name a number of times and seen some unclear pictures of certain sculptures in books, without having fully realized what a special figure this is in Norwegian art history. On my way to Kode, I feel a little ashamed of this neglect and look forward to making a proper acquaintance with this artistry. Ambrosia Tønnesen Photo: Synnøve des Bouvrie Ambrosia Theodora Tønnesen was born in Ålesund in 1859. There she lived what she called “her boyhood days”. The family had financial difficulties, and Tønnesen was given the choice between getting a job or getting married. She chose to become a teacher first, and then a sculptor. In 1876 Tønnesen moved to Bergen. Made his debut in 1884 at the Bergen Art Association. She had to travel abroad to get an artistic education and was apprenticed to Stephan Sinding in Copenhagen. Was also a private student with Professor Albert Wolff in Berlin. In 1887 she moved to Paris, where she learned to carve in marble in the studio of the realist René de Saint-Marceaux. In Paris, she met the woman who would become her life partner, the British Mary Banks. In 1910, Tønnesen moved back to Bergen, and worked there as a sculptor for the rest of his life. In 1939 she received King Haakon VII’s merit medal in gold. She died on 21 January 1948 in Bergen. As a sculptor, she alternates between the ideals of neoclassicism. With some realistic elements. Bound by tradition as an artist As I wander through the exhibition halls, I have to admit that I feel an ever-so-slight disappointment. There can be no doubt that Tønnesen was a very competent sculptor with a distinctly sharp eye for physiognomic details. But I think it’s a bit strange that such a pioneering and modern woman was so conventional and bound by tradition as an artist. In his idiom, Tønnesen is no norm-breaker. But there is no doubt that she is very talented. Her weakness is that she gets lost in details, and loses focus on the whole. Photo: Dag Fosse Inside the exhibition, we can study the plaster sketch of her most famous work, namely the JC Dahl sculpture that dominates the museum’s facade (see previous picture), and which visitors can also see both on their way in and out of the exhibition. Photo: Dag Fosse Suit and bow tie, waves in the clothes, waves in the hair. The lower part could have been stylized more for the sake of the whole. If you hold over the lapels and the bow, you will see that the head and face come into their own better. Photo: Dag Fosse The exhibition includes, among other things, a plaster sketch for her most famous sculpture portrait by the romantic painter JC Dahl. I am left wondering where the shoe actually presses. The bust has a very good portrait resemblance, and there is a nice presence in the gaze, but I think the expression is characterized by her losing herself in far too many details. This means that she loses sight of the formal whole. If we compare her with her contemporary Gustav Vigeland, it is easy to see what is missing. Gustav Vigeland transformed and stylized what he saw. All his works, whether a granite bust, a full-length human figure in bronze or a wrought iron dragon, bear his unmistakable stylistic signature. Tønnesen carved out a wealth of skillful and precise plastic details, but she was unable to develop an individualized and distinctive style. DEVELOPMENT: This is a competent sculptor, but there are always trade-offs missing. There is also a small awareness of visual hierarchy (what should be in the foreground and what can form the background). It looks like she has become more aware of this over time. This series of portraits is lined up chronologically and shows a development over 30 years, and we see that towards the end she drops her clothes, which means that the faces come into their own much better. Photo: Dag Fosse NAKED BUST: The last one in the series shows a rather strong portrait, I think. Here there is greater form and uniqueness, and a somewhat greater degree of stylization. Here she is really on to something. I don’t know who she has portrayed, but I think the face has something to say to me anyway. It has a kind of timeless quality. Photo: Dag Fosse Little that is left to the viewer Her full-length portrait of Ole Bull also suffers a little from this. There is a fine authority in the depiction of the figure. Again, the portrait resemblance is impressive, but the expression has something a little sentimental, over-explained and finished, which makes it tip over into something almost kitschy. Little is left to us as viewers. I think her portrait of Edvard Grieg is somewhat more successful. Here, too, she could undoubtedly have calmed down the details, such as the suit lapels and the cross-over bow, which steals a lot of focus from the face, but I think she has managed to capture something very characteristic of the well-known figure: The rankness and the experience that he is filled with his great , musical calls. The sculpture is shown both as a plaster sketch and in marble. She has really captured something very typical and recognizable in this portrait of E. Grieg. This is among the most beautiful sculptures she has created. Photo: Dag Fosse The expression in a full-length portrait of Ole Bull tips over into something almost kitschy. Photo: Dag Fosse When we see this portrait from the front, we see that it is designed with authority and attitude. But it has something slightly affected and romantic about it, I think. Photo: Dag Fosse It’s really fun to see how the expression transforms from one medium to another. The plaster surface has a sympathetic texture that contributes something very nice, but for Tønnesen it is still often a gain to go from plaster to marble because the demanding, hard material forces her to make clearer choices of form. Bound by the client’s taste When I go to the exhibition and see the endless series of sculptures and busts she has designed, it is a little easier to understand that she was not more innovative and modern in her artistic approach. With all her ongoing assignments, she has probably been quite bound by the clients’ traditional tastes. A LITTLE FREER ARTWORK: This one is based on Ibsen’s story “Hærmændene på Helgeland”. It shows the Viking woman Hjørdis taking a cruel revenge. The sculpture was considered both at the Salon in Paris and at the Autumn Exhibition in Christiania in 1890. It was also shown at the World Exhibition in Chicago in 1893. Purely artistically and in terms of form, I am not very excited about this sculpture. There is a lot of will and a certain power in the expression, but the figure has something forcedly untrustworthy about it. Somewhat affected and strained. I feel that the sculpture is somehow not allowed to breathe. Photo: Dag Fosse Towards the end of her life, she is said to have said that the only thing she could have wished differently was that she would have liked to have more time to work freely with her art. And here I think she is on to something important. Here, the marble forces her to simplify, which is very positive. But even if the sculpture resembles Amalie Skram, it is a bit smooth and bland. Photo: Dag Fosse I think this is a nice and simple self-portrait. Not too dramatic and ambitious, but a little calm and sympathetic in expression. This one isn’t that bad at all. Photo: Dag Fosse Why they have included her paintings in the exhibition, I do not understand. This is pure amateur work. We can see that she has a certain sense of colour, but she is very weak in terms of drawing and technique. So I think they could have spared her this. Photo: Dag Fosse It is incredibly exciting to imagine what kind of artist she could have become with her keen eye and steely control over the medium, if she had been given the opportunity to develop a more individualized style. On my way out of the exhibition, I think that after all I am happy to have gotten to know Ambrosia Tønnesen better, both as a person and as an artist! news reviewer Photo: Pål Hoff / Synnøve des Bouvrie Title: “Ambrosia Tønnesen” Curator: Jorunn Veiteberg Institution: KODE – Permanenten City: Bergen Period: 17.10.24 – 23.3.25 Estimated time: 40 – 60 minutes Published 03.12.2024, at . 08.00
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“Ambrosia Tønnesen. Sculpture” by Kode, Bergen – Reviews and recommendations
