(2)  When he arrived in New York at the age of 13, he got an American education and art training.  Although he took an active part in Norwegian-American activities, he was regarded as an American artist even though most American publications mention that he is Norwegian-born.  His Norwegian background meant a lot to him.  He visited the country of his birth several times and worked as a bridge builder between his native and adopted country.  Like Ole Bull in the nineteenth century, he contributed to putting Norway on the map in America. Paradoxically, hardly anyone has heard about the painter Jonas Lie in Norway.  He was made Knight of the Order of St. Olav in 1932, but apart from a couple of interviews and a few scattered notices, there are not many traces of Jonas Lie the painter in Norway.  Why was this famous painter who even became president of the National Academy of Design in New York invisible in Norway? Another question is why Lie has been neglected after his death in critical histories of modern American art?  As early as in 1921 it was pointed out that few painters of any immigrant group had achieved the fame that Jonas Lie had, and according to the late professor Marion J. Nelson, the leading expert on Norwegian-American painters, Lie is “the most prominent of all Norwegian immigrant artists.”  (3)

Not only was Lie foremost among the Norwegian-American painters, he also earned recognition as one of America’s leading landscape artists during his lifetime.  When he died he was represented in 38 permanent collections including Musée de Luxembourg in Paris.  In spite of his success, no book has been written about him. Some scholarly articles, however, have been published. (4)  His work was covered regularly in numerous shorter articles in American magazines, bulletins of American art museums and galleries as well as by New York newspapers.  Norwegian-American newspapers such as Nordisk Tidende, Decorah-Posten and Skandinaven also carried articles about Lie.

© 2000-2008 AskART. All rights reserved. AskART is a registered trademark. Used with permission.