Aksel Waldemar Johannessen

Aksel Waldemar Johannessen studied at Hammersborg skole and Norwegian National Academy of Craft and Art Industry. Training under Lars Utne is recorded. The recorded working language is Norwegian. The field of work recorded is painting and art of sculpture. Subjects and genres recorded for the work are landscape, portrait, self-portrait and interior view. Edgar Degas and Edvard Munch are recorded as an influence. Residence is recorded at Gjøvik Municipality and Christiania. Work by Aksel Waldemar Johannessen is recorded in the collections of National Museum of Art, Architecture and Design.

• Born — 1880 • Died — 25 October 1922 • Style — Expressionism, Realism • Spouse — Anna Nilsen (m. 1907) • Children — 2

• Illustration — vagabond with dog, around 1910 Johannessen was born in Oslo, and grew up in the suburb of Hammersborg. Mostly, poor people lived there. He attended the state-run art school. There, he studied sculpting under Lars Utne. In 1907, he married another student, Anna Nilsen. They had two daughters. Around 1910, the couple moved to Gjøvik, where Johannessen found a job as a designer for furniture. At the start of the First World War, they moved back to Oslo, and he started painting. When painting, he soon developed his style, which was always critical of the conditions of people. His work has also been seen as a realist. In 1921, his wife was diagnosed with cancer. Johannesson started drinking more and more alcohol. As he was in bad health, he died of pneumonia. His paintings were displayed at an exposition only after his death. Norwegian art critic Jappe Nilssen, a good friend and discoverer of Edvard Munch, said of Johannessen's work, "I dont remember seeing similar works in nordic painting". Munch himself stated, "Today, no better images are painted". Despite this, Johannessen was forgotten. Only in 1990 was his work rediscovered by art collector Haakon Mehren.