Halfdan Egedius (May 5, 1877 – February 2, 1899) was a Norway painter and illustrator.[ Egedius/utdypning (Store norske leksikon)][ Halfdan Egedius ( Frode Ernst Haverkamp. Store norske leksikon)]
Biography
Halfdan Johnsen Egedius was born in
Drammen in
Buskerud and grew up in Christiania (now
Oslo). His interest in painting and illustration began at the age of 5 and he showed exceptional artistic abilities early. He attended art school from the age of 9 at the school of art of
Knud Bergslien, where he was a pupil from 1886 to 1889. In 1891 he was a pupil of
Erik Werenskiold, and from 1891 to 1892 he studied at the Arts and Crafts School in Christiania. In 1894 he attended the
Harriet Backer art school. During spring 1896, he was a student of Kristian Zahrtmann in
Copenhagen. From the age of 15 he began painting the landscape of
Telemark.
[ Art Encyclopedia. The Concise Grove Dictionary of Art]
Professionally known as Halfdan Johnsen Egedius, he was active from the age of 16 until his premature death at the age of 21. In his short life he managed to create several Norwegian masterpieces in a variety of styles. He is best known for his illustrations of the Heimskringla in a style inspired by Werenskiold.[ Egedius. North. December 4, 2005]
Egedius became ill during a summer stay in Telemark in 1898, and after relapsing before Christmas, was hospitalized in Christiania, where he died in February 1899, not yet 22 years old. The cause of death was actinomycosis, a bacterial infection that attacked the internal organs. He was buried in the churchyard at Vestre Aker. Fifty years after his death, a memorial stone was erected.
Gallery
File:Halfdan Egedius - Portrait of Mari Clasen - Google Art Project.jpg| Portrait of Mari Clasen (oil on canvas, 1895)
Image:Olav den helliges saga - Olav og Rane i viking - H. Egedius.jpg |Illustration for St. Olaf's Saga, Heimskringla (1897)
Image:Magnus den godes saga - Magnus og Kalv Arnesson Stiklestad - H. Egedius.jpg|Illustration for Saga of Magnus the Good, Heimskringla (1898)
Image:Olav Tryggvasons saga - Eriks menn entrer Ormen lange - Halfdan Egedius.jpg |Illustration for Saga of Olaf Tryggvason, Heimskringla (1897)
Image:Olav den helliges saga - Kong Olavs fall - H. Egedius.jpg|Illustration for St. Olaf's Saga, Heimskringla (1899).
Image:Sverdrups skuffelse - Egedius.jpg|Illustration for Fridtjof Nansen's Fram over Polhavet: den norske polarfærd 1893-1896 (1897)
File:Halfdan Egedius - Soir d'été.jpg| Summer's Eve (1893)
File:Egedius Halfdan Vågå 1894-crop.png| Fra Vågå (1894)
Sources
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Walther Halvorsen. Halfdan Egedius. Gyldendal 1914
-
Øistein Parmann. Halfdan Egedius: liv og verk. Dreyer, Oslo, 1990.
External links
