Editing Gustav Vigeland (section)

==Legacy==
Some art critics considered Vigeland's sculptures to be expressions of [[Nazism|nazi]] or [[Fascism|fascist]] aesthetics, and he has been compared to [[Arno Breker]].<ref>[[Rune Slagstad]], Døde og levende kropper: Hofmo mot Vigeland, ''Nytt Norsk Tidsskrift'' 2, 2008</ref> Writing in [[Verdens Gang]], a newspaper started by former [[Norwegian resistance movement|Norwegian resistance]] members shortly after the [[German occupation of Norway]] ended in 1945, [[Pola Gauguin]] wrote that the Vigeland installation "reeks of Nazi mentality.”<ref>Review of the Vigeland installation by Pola Gauguin in ''Verdens Gang'' 3 July 1945</ref> The works in the installation depict individuals variously possessed: In agony and shock; Rapture and torture, from birth to death and beyond. The assessment of Strømodden finds no political themes.<ref>Jarle Strømodden, [https://www.tretyakovgallerymagazine.com/articles/norway–russia-crossroads-cultures/gustav-vigeland-man-behind-vigeland-park “Gustav Vigeland, the man behind the Vigeland Park”], ''Tretyakov Gallery Magazine'', accessed 17 February 2022</ref> 

During the German occupation, an official request was made for the head of the German administration’s Cultural Department to visit Vigeland’s studio. In his letter of reply, Vigeland stated that he would "gladly” open his studio, and, in addition, he also “confidently dares to let German soldiers with their outstanding discipline walk around between my work”. The pro-Nazi [[Quisling regime]] then used this response for propaganda purposes, publishing it, among other places, in a national daily newspaper ([[Aftenposten]], 15 April 1944). This has led to accusations of Vigeland being a Nazi sympathiser, but it should be borne in mind that since Vigeland’s studio was funded by the municipality, he was obliged to accept visits at their request, and had done since 1924. Vigeland refused to be present at all such visits, including these. As for including German soldiers, fear by Vigeland of the German military’s propensity for confiscating both buildings and artworks should be considered as a factor. Tone Wikborg, Senior Curator at the [[Vigeland Museum]], Oslo stated that 'Vigeland undoubtedly had a conservative view of art, and could be said to be in line with Nazi or, for that matter, communist attitudes towards modernist non-figurative art. But this does not make him, or the many others who have both before and since held the same opinion, a sympathiser of any specific political system.'<ref>{{cite news|url= https://www.aftenposten.no/meninger/kronikk/i/2GV4Wq/uholdbar-brunmaling-av-gustav-vigeland-tone-wikborg | title= Uholdbar brunmaling av Gustav Vigeland | first= Tone |last= Wikborg | work= Aftenposten | date= 25 April 2019 | access-date= 17 March 2025 |language= no}}</ref>

''Posterity'', a 2015 play by [[Doug Wright]], imagined the interaction between Vigeland and [[Henrik Ibsen]].<ref name=Isherwood>{{cite news|last1=Isherwood|first1=Charles|title=Doug Wright's 'Posterity,' a Portrait of Ibsen|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/16/theater/review-doug-wrights-posterity-a-portrait-of-ibsen.html?_r=0|access-date=25 March 2015|newspaper=New York Times|date=15 March 2015}}</ref>