Hjalmar Haalke
16.04.66 – 08.05.66
This memorial exhibition with Hjalmar Haalke was held in Kunstnernes Hus in 1966. The exhibition contained paintings from almost all of Haalke's artistic career, from his breakthrough in 1919 to his very last work before his death in 1964. Several of the paintings were on loan from private collections, and Lillehammer Bys Malerisamling.
Hjalmar Haalke (1894-1964) was a Norwegian painter from Trondheim. He was educated at the Statens Håndverks- og Kunstindustriskole in addition to having been a pupil of the French-Brazilian Pedro Araujo in Paris, and later with Roger Bissière, Per Krogh, Henry de Waroquier and Charles Dufresne. He made his debut in 1919 at the Autumn Exhibition with the painting Snowfall, and eventually became part of a small circle of painters who did not allow themselves to be influenced by the tendencies of the 1920s, but were more inspired by the atmospheric art of the 1890s. Eventually, Haalke began to use a richer and more powerful palette with the city as a motif, as well as strong coloristic motifs from Gudbrandsdalen. Later he and his wife lived in Italy and several of his best motifs are from here. In addition to these landscape and city pictures, Haalke also painted interior pictures, still lifes, flower pictures, nudes and portraits.
Haalke is represented in, among others, the National Museum, Trondheim Art Museum and Lillehammer Art Museum.
Utdrag fra katalogen
I den generasjon av norske malere som trådte fram like etter første verdenskrig, viste Hjalmar Haalke meget snart sitt eget ansikt, en kraftig og markant trønderprofil. Det var fra første stund en besindig ro og tyngde over ham, en sky for lettkjøpte virkninger, man hadde følelsen av å stå overfor en kunstner som til enhver tid stod fullt og helt inne for det han gjorde. ...
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Sine siste år tilbrakte Haalke på Lillehammer. Tross svekket helbred fortsatte han å male så langt kreftene rakk. Ja, bildene fra disse årene hører blant hans beste. De er lysere i tonen, lettere og luftigere i fargepålegget uten å miste noe av fastheten og klarheten i oppbyggingen, og de har en fin, enkel stilisering som gir dem en utpreget dekorativ holdning. Nå behersket Haalke sitt fag helt ut, nå stod han fritt overfor alle teorier og skjemaer, også de han selv hadde pålagt seg, nå var han endelig nådd dit han ville. Da han døde den 1. desember 1964, kunne han se tilbake på et livsverk som i sjelden grad er uten konsesjoner og kompromissløsninger. Hans kunst mangler alle innsmigrende egenskaper, men den har kraft og karakter, han søkte alltid mot det vesentlige, mot kjernen i naturopplevelsen. «Min form er egentlig det enkle naturstudium,» skrev han en gang, «og jeg tror på naturen. Jeg ser at naturen alltid er det sanne grunnlag, den nerve som må være mellom det skapte og kunstneren — ja, selv i abstrakt kunst må en føle denne samhørighet.»
Om kunstneren
Hjalmar Haalke (1894-1964) was a Norwegian painter from Trondheim. He was educated at the Statens Håndverks- og Kunstindustriskole in addition to having been a pupil of the French-Brazilian Pedro Araujo in Paris, and later with Roger Bissière, Per Krogh, Henry de Waroquier and Charles Dufresne. He made his debut in 1919 at the Høstutstillingen with the painting Snowfall, and eventually became part of a small circle of painters who did not allow themselves to be influenced by the tendencies of the 1920s, but were instead inspired by the atmospheric art of the 1890s. Eventually, Haalke began to use a richer and more powerful palette with the city as a motif, as well as strong coloristic motifs from Gudbrandsdalen. Later he and his wife lived in Italy and several of his best motifs are from here. In addition to these landscape and city pictures, Haalke also painted interior pictures, still lifes, flower pictures, nudes and portraits.
Haalke is represented in, among others, the National Museum, Trondheim Art Museum and Lillehammer Art Museum.
