Nature and garden art in Norway

Abstract

Abstract The history of garden art 1 in Norway has yet to be written.2 An indifferent observer may ask whether there is any history to record at all, because garden art is not what strikes you when you visit the country. Natural scenery and landscapes, rather than gardens, are the more common reasons for visiting Norway. But, when you look a little closer, indeed there are gardens, and they do have a history. It is not the story of royal palace gardens or the grand estates of princes. Looking at garden history in Norway means looking for the fine nuances. Even when compared with the other Scandinavian countries, Norway has little to show by way of grandeur and magnificence in its history of landscape gardening. There were hardly any professional garden designers in Norway until the late nineteenth century, unlike in Sweden (e.g. the Nicodemus Tessins, the elder and younger, and Fredrik Magnus Piper) or in Denmark (e.g. Johan Cornelius Krieger and Nicolas-Henri Jardin). Norway was a province of Denmark fro...