Astri Welhaven Heiberg

Astri Welhaven Heiberg (14 December 1881 – 26 May 1967) was a Norwegian painter, best known for her portraits of female nudes and landscapes.

Biography Family Welhaven Heiberg was born in Kristiania She and her three older sisters were involved in culture. Harriet Backer (1845–1932) was the second-oldest and ranks among Norway's greatest painters. Another sister was the pianist and composer Agathe Backer (1847–1907, married name Agathe Backer Grøndahl), remembered for her piano pieces and songs. Inga Agathe (1842–1915) was the oldest sister and a talented singer. Like her sister Harriet, Margrethe Backer was interested in painting. She studied under Vilhelm Kyhn in Copenhagen and also at Knud Bergslien's painting school in Kristiania.

Training and marriage Astri Welhaven was taught by her aunt, Harriet Backer, from 1902 to 1907. Backer operated a painting school in Kristiania for almost 20 years around the turn of the century. During the years that Astri Welhaven was a student with Harriet Backer, she gained much experience in painting nudes. In addition, she adopted her aunt's strict discipline and work ethic.

In November 1907, Astri Welhaven married Christen Fritzner Heiberg (1878–1943),

Debut In the fall of 1912, Welhaven Heiberg debuted at the Autumn Exhibition with a portrait. By 1922 she had probably painted 12 such motifs. During the 1920s, Welhaven Heiberg increasingly turned to painting commissioned portraits. Over the years she undertook several major assignments. She painted King Haakon VII, Crown Princess Märtha, and the crown prince couple's three children, among others. From 1916 to 1924, Welhaven Heiberg lived in Asker. Despite choosing to live in Oslo after 1924, she remained in touch with Asker all her life. Welhaven Heiberg was active as a painter until her last year of life, and she took part in the Autumn Exhibition many times, for the last time in 1961 as an 80-year-old. After this, she exhibited exclusively in Asker. Of Welhaven Heiberg's production, around 150 paintings can be documented and dated to the period between 1907 and 1966. There is reason to believe that many of her paintings are in private collections, and that her total production is greater than what can currently be documented.