When the Stavanger Art Museum held a retrospective exhibit of the work of Frida Hansen in 2015, they published a beautiful book of essays and photos, Frida Hansen: Art Nouveau i Full Blomst (Art Nouveau in Full Bloom). I bought my copy in the museum gift shop that year. You should pick one up! You should visit the Stavanger Art Museum in its lovely wooded location. You should marvel at Frida Hansen’s art.
In her transparency pieces, admire the juxtaposition of open and woven warps.
Oh wait! Maybe you can’t visit. There is a pandemic. Would you still like to purchase the book? Right now I don’t see any U.S. venue to purchase it (although recently there was one copy available via Amazon for $400). I contacted the museum and they would ship it to the U.S., but the cost of mailing is exorbitant. (Address museum bookstore inquiries to barbara.slowik@museumstavanger.no) I then contacted Ken Koop, who purchases Norwegian weaving books for the Vesterheim Norwegian American store. Ken contacted the museum and figured out that he can order the books (so you could then order it from Vesterheim). It would cost $64 retail (I’m sure there would be some U.S. shipping and tax, too). Ken’s question to me: Would people want to order it at that cost? I definitely think that is a ballpark price for a beautiful art book. It includes five essays, in Norwegian and English. Here is the list:
And here is a super-clumsy video of me leafing through the pages, so you can get an idea of the book. There are some photos in the Norwegian essays; the essays in English follow in the green section; and then there are many glorious photos of Frida Hansen’s tapestries, followed by her transparencies.
So here’s my question–would you be likely to order a copy of the Frida Hansen book if it you could order it from Vesterheim for $64 (plus shipping and handling)? Respond to this post or send me an email at lafleur1801@me.com. This is JUST to gauge interest before telling Ken to go ahead.
Update: Here is a beautiful catalogue description, including several photos from the exhibition.