Gerhard Munthe

Gerhard Peter Frantz Munthe (19 July 1849 in Elverum, Hedmark – 15 January 1929 in Lysaker, Bærum) was a Norwegian painter and illustrator.

Background Munthe was born in Elverum to physician Christopher Pavels Munthe (1816–1884) and his wife Christine Margrethe Pavels Aabel (1827–1887).

He was a brother of writer Margrethe Munthe and historians and military officers Hartvig Andreas Munthe and Carl Oscar Munthe. He was also a nephew of historian and cartographer Gerhard Munthe and an uncle of genealogist Christopher Morgenstierne Munthe, librarian Wilhelm Munthe, and painter Lagertha Munthe. Through his mother he was a nephew of Andreas Leigh Aabel and Oluf Andreas Aabel, and a first cousin of Hauk Aabel.

Personal life In December 1886 he married Sigrun Sandberg (1869–1957). Munthe and Sandberg settled in Sandvika and later Lysaker. The couple divorced in 1919, the same year she married Fridtjof Nansen. From 1877 to 1882 he lived in Munich most of the time. However, many of his motifs were taken from Norway. At this time he painted in the naturalist style.

He also created monumental decorations, some of which have been lost, as was his house at Lysaker which was consumed by fire in 1982.

Munthe was a member of the selection committee at Høstutstillingen from its start in 1882 to 1890. He was a member of the board of the National Gallery of Norway from 1892 to 1905 and Den norske Husflidsforening from 1897 to his death, and chair of the National Gallery from 1905 to 1907. He was made a Commander of the Royal Norwegian Order of St. Olav, and a Knight of the Danish Order of the Dannebrog and the Swedish Order of the Polar Star. He died in Bærum, but was buried in Elverum.

Gallery