Sigvald Asbjørnsen Explained

Sigvald Asbjørnsen
Birth Date:	19 October 1867
Birth Place:	Christiania, Norway
Death Place:	Chicago, Illinois, United States
Occupation:	Sculptor
Spouse:	Margaretha Stuhr
Children:	3

Sigvald Asbjørnsen (October 19, 1867 – September 8, 1954) was a Norwegian-born American sculptor.^[1]

Background

Sigvald Asbjørnsen was born in Christiania (now Oslo), Norway on October 19, 1867.^{[2] [3] [4]} He studied art with Mathias Skeibrok (1851–1896) and Julius Middelthun and under Brynjulf Bergslien. At the age of 16 he was awarded a stipend from King Oscar II to study at the Royal Academy in Oslo where he worked for five years.^[3]

He married Margaretha Stuhr and they had three children.^[2]

Career

Sigvald Asbjørnsen emigrated to the United States in 1892, first working in Michigan where he received several important commissions for sculpture. He eventually moved to Chicago where he worked on the buildings for the World Columbian Exposition of 1893. The remainder of his professional career was spent in Chicago where he sculpted a number of public works which were sent to various localities in the United States. He also made medallions of Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson, Henrik Ibsen and Edvard Grieg among others. Asbjørnsen exhibited sculptures at the Art Institute of Chicago between 1897 and 1921. He received the Royal Norwegian Order of St. Olav in 1952 from Norway's King Haakon VII.^{[5] [6]}

Asbjørnsen died at his son's home in Chicago on September 8, 1954.^{[7] [8]}

A collection of his work is at the Vesterheim Norwegian-American Museum in Decorah, Iowa. His sculptural work was shown at the University of Minnesota exhibit "The Divided Heart: Scandinavian Immigrant Artists, 1850–1950" in 1982.^[9]

Selected works

• Illinois State Monument, Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park, Chattanooga, Tennessee, 1898–99.
• Statue of Leif Erikson, Humboldt Park, Chicago, Illinois, 1901.^[7]
• War, and Soldier (corner figure), General William Tecumseh Sherman Monument, President's Park, Washington, D.C., ca. 1901–02. Asbjørnsen created the figure of War, and completed one of Carl Rohl-Smith's four soldier figures.
• Pennsylvania State Monument, Andersonville National Historic Site, Andersonville, Georgia, 1902–05.
• Louis Joliet, Joliet Public Library, Joliet, Illinois, 1903–04.
• Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson Monument, North Dakota State University, Fargo, North Dakota, 1904.
• Macon County Soldiers' Monument, Central Park, Decatur, Illinois, 1904–05.
• John R. Monaghan Monument, Riverside Avenue & Monroe Street, Spokane, Washington, 1906.
• Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument, Jefferson County Courthouse, Madison, Indiana, 1907–08.
• Whitehead Memorial Fountain (R.D. Whitehead Memorial), Bow Street & Chavez Drive, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, 1910. A granite watering trough adorned with a bronze bas-relief of a horse.
• Wilbur Fisk Sanders, Montana State Capitol, Helena, Montana, 1911–13.
• Edvard Grieg Memorial, Prospect Park, Brooklyn, New York, 1914.
• Relief bust of Roald Amundsen, Golden Gate Park, San Francisco, California, ca. 1914–20.
• Augustus Pollack Monument, Ohio County Courthouse, Wheeling, West Virginia, 1916.
• Bust of Benjamin Franklin.
• Bust of Theodore Roosevelt.

Other sources

• Strand, A.E. (1905) A History of the Norwegians in Illinois (Chicago, IL: John Anderson Publishing Co.)
• Sundby-Hansen, Harry (1921) Norwegian Immigrant Contributions to America's Making (New York, NY: International Press)
• Haugan, Reidar Rye (1933) Prominent Artists and Exhibits of Their Work in Chicago (Chicago Norske Klub. Nordmanns-Forbundet, 24: 371–374, Volume 7)
• Heitmann, Helen M. (1976) From Fjord to Prairie: Norwegian-Americans in the Midwest, 1825–1975 (Chicago, IL: Norwegian-American Immigration Anniversary Commission)

External links

• Leif Erickson statue In the Humboldt Park, Chicago
• Edvard Grieg statue in Prospect Park, Brooklyn
• Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson monument at North Dakota State University

Notes and References

1. http://www.encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org/browse/bioA.html Asbjornsen, Sigvald (Encyclopedia of Chicago)
2. Book: A History of the Norwegians of Illinois . A. E. . Strand . John Anderson Publishing Company . Chicago . 270–271 . 1905 . 2023-08-11 . Internet Archive.
3. Web site: Sigvald Asbjørnsen, billedhugger . Norsk kunstnerleksikon. Arne Brenna. August 21, 2015.
4. Web site: Mathias Skeibrok, billedhugger . Store norske leksikon. Jan Kokkin. August 21, 2015.
5. Web site: Sigvald Asbjørnsen . Emigranter over Kristiansand 1873–1930. August 21, 2015.
6. http://www.nb.no/leiveriksson/sigvald.html Sigvald Asbjørnsen (Norsk-amerikanere på Verdensutstillingen i Chicago)
7. News: Sigvald H. Asbjornsen . Chicago Daily Tribune . September 10, 1954 . Chicago, IL . 51 . . December 26, 2021.
8. News: Death Takes Sculptor . Des Moines Tribune . September 10, 1954 . Des Moines, IA . 10 . . December 25, 2021.
9. http://finearts.luther.edu/artists/asbjrnsensigvald.html Sigvald Asbjørnsen (Luther College Fine Arts Collection)