Ambrosia Tønnesen

Ambrosia Tønnesen (28 January 1859 – 21 January 1948) was a Norwegian sculptor. She is regarded as the first professional female sculptor in Norway,[1] and is best known for her many portraits, including statues, busts, and reliefs.

Ambrosia Tønnesen
Born
Ambrosia Theodora Tønnesen

(1859-01-28)28 January 1859
Ålesund, Norway
Died21 January 1948(1948-01-21) (aged 88)
Fana, Norway
NationalityNorwegian
OccupationSculptor
AwardsOfficier d'Académie

Personal life and education

Tønnesen was born in Ålesund, a daughter of steamshipmaster Abraham Tønnesen (1818–1868) and Thomine Jonasen.[2] She worked as a schoolteacher in Bergen for some years, while also studying drawing, modeling, and painting. In 1885 she travelled to Copenhagen where she studied with painter Bertha Wegmann and sculptor Stephan Sinding. She then studied with sculptor Albert Wolff in Berlin, and further with René de Saint-Marceaux in Paris.[1]

Career
Tønnesen's marble bust of Amalie Skram, on display at the Bergen Public Library

Among Tønnesen's early sculptures are Våren (1885), Sneklokken (1887; a young girl), Den onde Hjørdis (1890), and Den korsfestede Kristus ("The Crucified Christ"; marble sculpture in Årstad Church, 1890). She made a large number of portraits (statues, busts, and reliefs), and is regarded as the first female Norwegian sculptor who made her living from her art. Her portraits include statues of Ole Bull, Johan Christian Dahl, and Camilla Collett; reliefs of Dorothe Engelbretsdatter and Petter Dass; and busts of Edvard Grieg (marble, 1902), Ole Irgens (bronze, 1906), Amalie Skram (marble, 1916, at Bergen Kunstmuseum), Gina Krog (bronze, 1919), Claus Fasting, bronze, 1924), Christian Michelsen (bronze, 1924), Henrik Angell (bronze, 1924), Wollert Konow (bronze, 1925), and Haakon Wallem (bronze, 1942).[1][3]

Tønnesen was decorated with the French order Officier d'Académie.[2]

She died in Fana (now Bergen) on 21 January 1948, aged 88.[1]

Literature
  • Wikborg, Tone (1982). "Med hammer og meisel – Ambrosia Tønnesen. Norges første profesjonelle billedhugger". In Vogt, K. (ed.). Den skjulte tradisjon – skapende kvinner i kulturhistorien. Bergen. pp. 161–171.
  • Jorunn Veiteberg (2009) Ambrosia Tønnesen. Stenhugger i det Fine[4]
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gollark: Python has a ternary operator too, actually, but it's weird and not widely known.
gollark: Is this some kind of microcontroller microcontrolling stream?
gollark: <@!220691068654452736> I'm curious, what exactly is the weird project you have going on with the ominous barcodes?
gollark: The on-chip hardware RNGs are not PRNGs but extract entropy from electrical noise.

References
  1. Wikborg, Tone. "Ambrosia Tønnesen". In Helle, Knut (ed.). Norsk biografisk leksikon (in Norwegian). Oslo: Kunnskapsforlaget. Retrieved 20 January 2019.
  2. Steenstrup, Hjalmar, ed. (1930). "Tønnesen, Ambrosa Theodora". Hvem er hvem? (in Norwegian). Oslo: Aschehoug. p. 429. Retrieved 20 January 2019.
  3. Bolstad, Erik (ed.). "Ambrosia Tønnesen". Store norske leksikon (in Norwegian). Oslo: Norsk nettleksikon. Retrieved 20 January 2019.
  4. Turid Larsen (23 October 2009) En ugift kvinne med suksess Dagsavisen. Retrieved from Webarchive
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