«Håkon Bleken’s pictures, at their best, sweep the spectator off his feet. They bear comparison with the young trumpeter’s fanfare in the masterwork The Young Musician (1927) by the Trøndelag painter Bjarne Ness (1902-1927). What is it that gives Bleken’s most suggestive pictures such character?

Behind Håkon Bleken’s oeuvre lie both a conscientious interest in contemporary political questions and an alert attitude to artistic trends of the times. Considered thus, his art has a variable and modernistic air. But, above all, what grips the spectator is the painter’s ability to endow the motifs with a romantic character accentuated against the enigmatic sounding-board of Surrealism.

It has been difficult for many to see the unifying, correlating element in Håkon Blekens work. Bleken has often been criticized for not having “found himself”. On closer examination, however, one finds consistent attitudes behind the artist’s manifold endeavours. Above all, his approach is marked by idealism. Håkon Bleken’s heroic attitude toward his work can border on high-tension. It is not unusual to encounter remarks form the artist to the effect that his pictures stem from a “personal feeling that life is a tragedy”.

The paintings and charcoal drawings on display showed both a personal and collective look back in time, and were rooted in psychological in-depth studies and literary interpretations. After its stay in Oslo and Trondheim, the exhibition moved on to Bergen, Ålesund, and Stavanger.

Håkon Bleken (1929–2025) was one of Norway's foremost contemporary artists and remained active with exhibitions and paintings until his death. Bleken is known for using both literature and social history as a starting point for his works, and interpretations of works by famous authors such as Thomas Mann, Franz Kafka, and Knut Hamsun were a recurring theme in several of his works. In addition to this, he distinguished himself as an illustrator for a number of literary works.

According to the artist himself, his upbringing was the very reason he became a painter and why he painted the way he did. A traumatic childhood became a rich source of inspiration for his works. Motifs such as violence, abuse, anxiety, suffering, and injustice became central to his art, often expressed through bandaged people, collapsed houses, and streets in dissolution.