(22 February 2017) The exhibition "In the light of Italy: a Norwegian – Danish art community, from 1879 to 1886" will be inaugurated on March 4 at the Art Museum in Lillehammer, Norway. The exhibition tells the story of a group of Danish and Norwegian artists who pursued their dream of retiring in the small Italian town of Sora (in southern Lazio) and Civita d'Antino (Abbruzzo). Here painters Peder Severin Krøyer, Eilif Peterssen, Christian Meyer Ross, Joakim Skovgaard, Kristian Zahrtmann, Theodor Philipsen and Viggo Pedersen developed their style of painting into a larger realism, inspired by "Italian light", monumental landscapes and the impressive daily life of their inhabitants. The President of the Norwegian Parliament, Olemic Thommessen will lead the inauguration of the exhibition which was organised by the Den Hirschsprungske Samling museumin Copenhagen, the Skovgaard Museet in Viborg, and the Lillehammer Kunstmuseum, in collaboration with the Italian Cultural Institute of Oslo. For the occasion, the Italian Cellist, Emery Cardas and violinist Berit Cardas will hold a concert at the museum. (Red)

LOVERS OF ITALY

Krøyer painted his famous paintings "Italian Field Laborers" and "Hatters in an Italian Village" in Sora, while Eilif Peterssen painted his masterpiece "Siesta in an Osteria in Sora" - paintings that announced Nordic realism in art. Krøyer, Peterssen and Ross were pioneers in the discovery of this part of Italy in 1880, and a group of Danish artists let themselves be inspired by them and soon joined in 1883. Zahrtmann fell in love with Civita d'Antino, and he returned there almost every summer from 1880 until 1911, as well as Ross who spent almost every summer in Sora until his death in 1904.