This travelling exhibition is the first time the works of Haakon Gullvåg is presented to a Chinese audience. He is one of Norway’s most honored figurative painters, and the exhibition thus presents a contemporary mirror of a variety of Norway’s most known official faces to the Chinese public. The contemporary and historical portrait, the paraphrase, the autobiographical theme, the still life and his illustrations on major literary classics is all presented in the exhibition.
Håkon Gullvåg was born in Trondheim in 1959. As a painter, he has been central on the Norwegian art scene since his breakthrough in 1983. His paintings include historical and contemporary portraits, as well as paintings incorporating experiences from his own life and paintings inspired by classical works in the European tradition or literary works. From 1995 onwards, he has been known for his church decorations and he is considered among the country’s greatest in the field. He is also renowned for his many portraits of significant people in Norway.