Man on a Diving Board
On loan to The Met
This work of art is currently on loan to the museum.Johannessen, a handcraft and theater designer, demonstrated his painterly ambition in this mid-air view of two swimmers. The scene is structured by powerful contrasts: the angular, doubled-up form and taut musculature of the man, suspended in space, contrast sharply with the sinuous, blurred contours of the woman in the water. The man’s face is hidden, leaving no clue to his expression as he gazes downward. Johannessen’s paintings were not exhibited until a memorial retrospective held in 1923, after the alcoholic artist’s death from pneumonia. His compatriot and creative inspiration, Edvard Munch, pronounced his works, "Among the most remarkable paintings that I have encountered!"
Artwork Details
- Title: Man on a Diving Board
- Artist: Aksel Waldemar Johannessen (Norwegian, Oslo (Kristiania) 1880–1922 Oslo (Kristiania))
- Date: 1912
- Medium: Oil on canvas
- Dimensions: 70 7/8 × 35 1/16 in. (180 × 89 cm)
- Classification: Paintings
- Credit Line: Christen Sveaas Art Collection
- Object Number: L.2021.2
- Curatorial Department: European Paintings