Today's forecast called for rain, so plans changed and I headed indoors; first to visit the museum closest to me, the Munch Museum, a 5-minute walk from my Airbnb, and then with after a brief T-bahn ride, ended up at the National Gallery. Since Thor was an amateur artist, I wanted to see the kind of art he would have been influenced by during his life. Edvard Munch, Norway's most famous artist, was prolific during Thor's lifetime, and died only a few years after Thor, in 1944 at the age of 80.
Since Thor lived in Oslo, he would have seen the work of the Norwegian Romantic painters, like the one below.
Johan Christian Dahl, View from Stalheim, 1842 (Photo: Nasjonalmuseet, Billedkunstsamlingene)
For more information and art work see: http://www.nasjonalmuseet.no/en/
He of course, would also have seen work by Edvard Munch, like this painting, completed in 1932. These artists would have influenced his own work, which is more in-line with Dutch still-life painting and the more traditional painters like Dahl.
Edvard Munch, Apple Tree in the Garden (Photo: Munchmuseet, Oslo) For more information see: http://munchmuseet.no/en/
Pen and ink drawing of horses and oil on canvas still-life painting - both by Thor Jensen