Jan Groth

Jan Groth (1938–2022) is one of Norway’s foremost visual artists. Through more than 60 years, starting with his debut at Charlottenborgs Efterårsudstilling in 1958, he developed a distinctive and consistent artistic practice characterised by a condensed expression centring on lines as means of expression. Although Groth is most well-known for his monumental tapestries with a white line on a brown-black ground, in later years his lines took the form of monumental wall drawings and free-standing sculptures. In the exhibition Course and Volume, we present four new wall drawings created specifically for the rooms in the museum, a selection of key tapestries and sculptures, and drawings and archival material. Using various points of departure, we present a picture of an artistic practice that continues to fascinate the general public as well as a younger generation of artists.

In 2017, Groth was the featured visual artist at Bergen International Festival. The photo shows a wall drawing from the Festival Exhibition at Bergen Kunsthall.

Groth and the Danish weaver Benedikte Herlufsdatter established a studio, workplace and living cooperative in the early 1960s. Benedikte was actively involved in producing Groth’s tapestries. The photo is from 1965 and shows Benedikte and Jan Groth in the tapestry studio at Bråde on Sjælland.

Betty Parsons and Groth study a selection of Groth’s drawings. Parsons was one of the most influential art dealers in New York’s gallery-and-art scene from the 1940s to her death in 1982. Groth first exhibitied at the Betty Parsons Gallery on Manhattan in 1972.