Hanna Jessen

Hanna Jessen
Sculptor Hanna Jessen in 1940

Hanna Jessen (born 29 June 1907 in Kristiania, died 11 October 1973 in Oslo) was a Norwegian sculptor, lecturer and non-fiction author.

Early life and education

Hanna Jessen was the daughter of engineer Christian Jessen and Olga Jessen (born Corneliussen).[1] Jessen studied sculptor with Torbjørn Alvsåker, Wilhelm Rasmussen, Antoine Bourdelle and Ossip Zadkine as teachers. She also spent some time studying in the Dresden Academy of Fine Arts.[2]

Career

In 1934, the National Museum of Art, Architecture and Design purchased the bronze bust Helene. This was a work Jessen had completed the year before, and it was purchased for funds from Benneche's endowment.[3]

In 1950, she showed three works at "The Official Finnish Exhibition" in Oslo: Liv, which belonged to Larvik, as well as Synnøve (a portrait in soapstone of the textile artist Synnøve Anker Aurdal[2]), a sculpture in soapstone, and Piken med blokfløyten, which was carved in granite.[4]

A child's portrait in bronze from 1954, titled Piken med fuglen was installed in Schous plass in Oslo.[5][6] Piken med fuglen was a testementary gift to the city from Liv Skavlan Reiss.[7] In Oslo, there is also the bronze sculpture Barn som lærer å gå (1962); this work was placed at the base of a pool in the Ditten complex in Akersgata 55.[6][7] Selvaagbygg A/S donated a soapstone sculpture by Jessen to be placed at the intersection of Veitvetveien/Grevlingveien in Veitvet; the motif is a mother holding her small child.[7]

Among other works by Jessen is a portrait bust of her sculptor colleague Emma Matthiasen,[8] and a portrait of the singer Gudrun Grave Nordlund (1956).[5] A sculpture of a girl in bronze is located in a flower bed in Herregården in Larvik, and both Askim and Haugesund municipalities own examples of her bronze sculpture Fløytespilleren.[2]

She has made several war memorials, including the three metre high memorial at Nyborg kirke in Nyborg i Åsane. The memorial has reliefs in a variant of dragestil among its motifs.[2]

Jessen was elected to the supervisory board of Kunstnernes Hus in Oslo, as a representative of sculptors, in 1952/1953/1954. She was re-elected to the supervisory board in 1967/1968/1969, and again in 1970/1971/1972. She was again reelected in 1973/1974/1975, but died in 1973.[9]

In 1955, Jessen was one of the winners in a competition to design a memorial for the actress Johanne Dybwad.[2]

Teaching work

Jessen spent many years as a private sculpture teacher, before becoming senior lecturer at Statens Håndverks- og Kunstindustriskole.[1] She worked at the school until her death in 1973.[10]

Writing

In 1960, Jessen published the book Modellering som hobby : forming i leire, brenning og gipsstøping, stein og tre from Fabritius publishing [5]

References

  1. ^ a b "Hanna Jessen – Norsk kunstnerleksikon" (in Norwegian). Store norske leksikon. Retrieved 2017-08-22.
  2. ^ a b c d e Parmann, Øistein 1921-1999 (1969). Norsk skulptur i femti år. Oslo: Dreyer. pp. 174–175.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  3. ^ Guleng, Mai Britt 1961-; Lange, Marit 1943-; Lathion, Jacques 1954- (1997). Norsk skulptur: katalog. Oslo: Nasjonalgalleriet. ISBN 8290744455.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  4. ^ Den offisielle finske kunstutstilling, Oslo 1950: malerier, skulptur, tegninger, grafikk, 7.jan.-5.febr. 1950. Oslo. 1950. pp. 2 and 5.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)[dead link‍]
  5. ^ a b c Jessen, Hanna; Hygen, Johan B. (foreword); Teigen, Karl (photography) (1960). Modellering som hobby: forming i leire, brenning og gipsstøping, stein og tre. Oslo: Fabritius.
  6. ^ a b Johnsrud, Even Hebbe 1927-2013 (1973). Noen nyere utsmykninger i Oslo. Oslo.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  7. ^ a b c Wikborg, Tone; Andersen, Nina Felling (1986). Skulpturer og minnesmerker i Oslo. Oslo: Aschehoug. ISBN 8203153003.
  8. ^ Meyer, Ulla (1943). Norske kvinner: 150 portretter. Oslo: Jacob Dybwads forlag. p. 134.
  9. ^ Hellandsjø, Karin; Glambek, Ingeborg; Schmedling, Olga; Gjessing, Steinar (1980). Kunstnernes hus 1930-1980. Oslo: Kunstnernes hus. pp. 225–227. ISBN 8299064201.
  10. ^ Amtrup, Aage (1987). Galleri Fredrikstad: skulpturer og minnesmerker. Fredrikstad: Fredrikstad kommune. p. 66.