🇳🇴 Walking Tour in The World’s Biggest Sculpture Park made by a Single Artist | Vigeland Park, 4K
It’s 8.00 o’clock on November 1st and we yet have snow from October’s late blizzard. Today is going to be a very special walk. We are going to visit Frogner Park, the first official park in Norway, on an unusual white autumn day with golden leaves still clinging on trees.
In a few minutes we will be entering Gustav Vigeland’s art installation, the world’s largest sculpture park made by a single artist. There are over 200 granite and bronze pieces of art awaiting for us. Since you have already turned on Closed Caption [CC], l’ll guide you through the park.
I hope you enjoy the video and I wish you all a very nice day. Thank you for watching. I am so glad that you have decided to discover a little more about this place with me. If you ever come to Oslo, Norway’s capital, and ask for some recommended places to visit
You are likely to hear the names of “Frogner Park” or “Vigeland Park”. Many refer to this park by one or another name and some tend to think that it’s the same; and that is almost correct. Frogner park is the greater park and where we are right now.
Within this park we find Vigeland’s park, which refers to the sculpture installation found in the middle of Frogner and the place where we are heading to. In any case, Vigeland Park is the main attraction and reason to come and visit, from a cultural perspective. It’s my top recommendation for visitors.
It’s free and it’s open at all times all year around. It came as a surprise to me too to discover that this is the first official park in Norway. Frogner park and the Vigeland installation became protected under the Heritage Act on 13 February 2009 as the first park in Norway.
In fact, it’s the most popular attraction in Norway, with between 1 and 2 million visitor every year. Today, there are countless parks. The city of Oslo itself and other smaller towns and villages in Norway have plenty of green spaces for people to enjoy.
And I love strolling around parks, specially unique like this one. And hiking National Parks too. In this case we can count up to 47 to today, plus more than 3.000 protected areas. There’s the doggy again.
I think that this dog comes back to screen up to 5 times in the video and with this time I already count 3. The other two times the dog is quite hard to spot.
But if you manage to see it 2 or even more times along the video, let me know down in the comments. Love locks, where don’t you find them. I’d like to film closer, but I have my camera on my forehead. But let me shrink and try my best…
I’ll let you enjoy the path by the lake in silence and I’ll meet you again very soon by the Café. Here we are. I wish I could show it to you from the inside, but it’s closed.
I sometimes come here and have a warm drink and a pastry whenever I receive visits from abroad. A curious fact is that in Norway there’s a big coffee culture. Norwegians love drinking coffee. A lot…
I don’t know if it’s true, but a friend told me that she knew somebody who wouldn’t get up from bed without having her 9th coffee. That must be an exaggeration. But I can’t help myself but imagining this person having the coffee machine by her bed.
Which other way could you possibly get it ready without the help of anybody? Although that might be an overstatement, it is way more common to see people drinking coffee than tea. Something I struggle a bit, since I don’t like the flavour of coffee. So… Where am I taking you now?
I want to bring you first of all to the Park’s main entrance. From where most of the people access it. We came in from the most natural and relatively unknown entrance, located more to the west. Despite receiving millions of tourist every year, Frogner is also very frequented by locals too.
It’s a great area for strolling around it’s multiple paths in this 320.000m2 (80 acres) park; There’s as well a playground for kids and parents and families can bring their kids to play around and meet other kids.
Besides, having a Café is a plus. Great for resting by its fire pit when tired or cold. Frogner is also quite popular for jogging and even cycling. Though there is a lake which freezes in winter, I have never seen anybody ice skating on the lake.
However, attached to the enclosure there’s an ice skating ring where you can not only skate, but also visit its museum. The only skating museum in Norway. It houses historical photos, equipments and medals from famous Norwegian Speed skaters. Another attraction you can visit is Oslo’s City Museum, just behind the Café we saw.
There you will get insights into the history of Oslo through paintings, photographs and models. Nevertheless, keep in mind that Oslo has a wide range of museum options. So make sure to do some research before booking or visiting any of them. Here we are. The park’s main gate and entrance.
Do you see the blue tram on the background? There is where buss and tram stop; both great options to get here. In just a few minutes we will be visiting Vigeland’s sculptures. Let’s, therefore, get into context. The parks name, Vigeland Park, is in honour to Gustav Vigeland.
This Norwegian artist quickly occupies a special position among Norwegian sculptors due to his creative imagination and his productivity. Only in this park Vigeland designed and sculpted over 200 figures made of bronze and granite. Despite doing it all by himself, he managed to sculpt all figures in less than three decades. Quite an achievement.
Let’s walk until the end of this tree-line and before we cross the bridge I will give you some more relevant information. We are about to cross the bridge, redesigned by Vigeland himself between 1925 and 1933. Along it there are 58 sculptures, all of them made out of bronze.
You will see that positions, expressions, etc., depict various emotions and relationships. By the way, there’s one very famous sculpture that you might even recognise yourself. I’ll not say anything while we cross the bridge so you can fully focus on the figures.
If you want, you can tell me in the comments what emotions you are capable to identify. Magnificent. Did you recognise the angry kid back there? It’s world famous and people rubs his hand for good luck. That’s why his hand looks so “golden” and bright.
Although we can’t appreciate it now, the sides of this path are full of roses in Spring and Summer. It is very pleasant to visit it in those seasons of the year too. Ahead we have the fountain, finalised in 1924.
If you remember the dates I mentioned before, this means that once he finished with the fountain, he immediately after started with the redesign of the bridge on 1925. Barely a break of one year before continuing with the next step. The brevity and efficiency made him be recognised as the most productive sculptor.
On the middle there are 6 men carrying a bowl. Surrounding the central piece there are tree-groups and human figures entirely made of bronze. I won’t get too much into detail about these bronze sculptures because I won’t be able to get close enough to fully appreciate the relief murals found at the base
Due to the gap in between us and the art. But I can tell that both, relief murals at the bottom and the sculptures above, represent the stages of a person’s life from cradle to grave. With the fountain we have finished with all bronze sculptures.
Within a few minutes we will be admiring the equally impressive granite sculptures. Let’s go. The sun is coming out. Look at the colours. Gorgeous. There it is. The central masterpiece. But before, take a look at this gates. They are marvellous. I wish I had them for myself.
The monolith stands almost 15 metres high (48 feet) and it is carved from a single piece of stone. It features 121 human figures intertwined, symbolising the cycle of life. It took Vigeland no more and no less than 14 years to complete this tremendous single granite sculpture.
Surrounding it we find figures representing his central topic: the human condition from birth to death, showcasing a range of emotions like fear, joy, anguish and anger. There are two more sculptures left to see, a curious fact and a quote related to this fact.
In the next piece or “compass” we can see in the low-relief sculptures the signs of the zodiac. Gemini Cancer Leo Virgo Libra Scorpio Sagittarius Capricorn Aquarius Pisces Aries Taurus Finally we have the last sculpture. “The wheel of life”, located west from the monolith.
Please notice now the monolith before the sun and the shadow of which we are going to step on for a second. This being said, let’s look back at the piece of bronze. This sculpture symbolizes eternity and depicts a garland of women, children and men holding onto each other.
Do you see now the monolith’s shadow and mine moving like the sun throughout the year? There’s a certain time of the year when the sun rises and the monolith’s shadow goes not where we see it right now, but through “The wheel of life”.
This is a discovery I might have never known unless I came here, to Vigeland, a day like today at 8 in the morning. The perfect lining has surprised me very much. With the gate located totally to the East, we have walked in a perfect oriented line to the West.
We crossed the bridge, the fountain, the monolith, the compass with the signs of the zodiac and ended up at “The Wheel of life”. Genius. We are reaching the end of the tour. What has surprised you the most?
I trust you have enjoyed this special Relaxing Path and I hope to see you in the next one. I wish you all the best and a very great day. “Sculpture is the art of the hole and the lump.”
Visit the world’s biggest sculpture park made by a single artist. Located in Norway, this relaxing early walk with gentle contemporary classical music will guide you through Vigeland’s most impressive bronze and granite sculptures.
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Closed captions [CC] available in multiple languages: 🇬🇧🇳🇴 & 20+
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Chapters
00:00 – Intro
05:52 – Leaving riverside behind
12:15 – Café & Park
16:58 – Main entrance
20:45 – Bridge sculptures
29:20 – Fountain sculptures
36:30 – Central masterpiece
42:30 – Compass and signs of the zodiac
47:00 – “The wheel of life”
50:20 – Quote
📹 The sound and video have been filmed on location. Do not copy, reproduce, distribute, publish, display, perform, modify, create derivative works, transmit, or in any way exploit any such content without previous written authorisation.
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2 Comments
Every video is better 😍
Que bonitooo❤