Norway's Vigeland sculpture park not for art lovers only

“I was a sculptor before I was born. There was no other path, and no matter how hard I might have tried to find one, I would have been forced back.” – Gustav Vigeland.


If there's only one thing I'd do while in Oslo, visiting the Vigeland sculpture park would be it. I made this decision the moment I first saw pictures of Gustav Vigeland's sculptures on the web.

Vigelandsparken was mostly completed between 1939 and 1949. It's the world's largest sculpture park by a single artist and, according to the Vigeland Museum's website, the park boasts more than 200 sculptures in bronze, granite and wrought iron.

I headed for the park on a cold, rainy morning and spent about two hours there, but if I had the time I could probably have spent the entire day. 

I’ve never been as touched by any piece of art in my life. I could recognise myself, people I love, people I know, what we feel, and what we have felt, in almost every single sculpture in the park. I would look at a sculpture, walk away and look at several others, turn around, and then look at the same sculpture(s) over and over again. Every single time I would see something I haven’t noticed before – the concern on a father’s face, the love in a woman’s eyes, an elderly man’s frailty, the joy in a mother’s smile. 

I must admit, my knowledge of art is limited to the few quick lessons my housemate (who studied art history) gave me when I wanted to impress an art teacher I dated a few years ago. That said, I do have a deep appreciation for art and loved, for example, seeing some of Vincent Van Gogh’s and Gustav Klimt’s works in Amsterdam and Vienna. But never, ever have I appreciated art as much as I did Vigeland's sculptures.

Whether you’re an art lover or not, a visit to Vigelandsparken should be on any Oslo visitor's to-do list.