Vigeland Sculpture Park
Vigeland was also responsible for the design and architectural outline of the park, which is one of Norway's top tourist attractions, with more than one million annual visitors.
Frogner Park contains the well-known Vigeland installation a permanent sculpture installation created by Gustav Vigeland between 1924 and 1943. The sculpture area in Frogner Park covers 80 acres and features 212 bronze and granite sculptures, all designed by Gustav Vigeland. Most of the statues in the park are made of Iddefjord granite.
Oslo, Norway. Oct. 1, 2019
The Monolith Plateau and the Monolith totem. Frogner Park, Oslo, Norway. Oct. 1, 2019
Frogner Park (Norwegian: Frognerparken) is a public park located in the borough of Frogner in Oslo, Norway, Frogner Park contains the well-known Vigeland installation a permanent sculpture installation created by Gustav Vigeland between 1924 and 1943.
The Monolith Plateau is a platform in the north of Frogner Park made of steps that houses the Monolith totem itself. 36 figure groups reside on the elevation, representing a “circle of life” theme. Access to the Plateau is via eight wrought iron gates depicting human figures. The gates were designed between 1933 and 1937 and erected shortly after Vigeland died in 1943.
At the highest point in Frogner Park lies the park's most popular attraction, the Monolith (Monolitten). The name derives from the Latin word monolithus, from the Greek μονόλιθος (monolithos), μόνος meaning "one" or "single" and λίθος "stone", and in this case is a genuine monolith, being fabricated from one piece of solid stone. Construction of the massive monument began in 1924 when Gustav Vigeland modelled it in clay in his studio in Frogner. The design process took ten months, and it is supposed that Vigeland used sketches drafted in 1919. A model was then cast in plaster.
In the autumn of 1927 a block of granite weighing several hundred tons was delivered to the park from a quarry in Halden. It was erected a year later and a wooden shed was built around it to keep out the elements. Vigeland’s plaster model was erected next to it for reference. Transferring the design began in 1929 and took three masons 14 years to accomplish. The Monolith towers 14.12 metres (46.32 ft) high and is composed of 121 human figures rising towards the sky.
Oslo, Norway. Oct. 1, 2019
