Anniversary exhibition - Norwegian highlights from Kode Bergen at Blaafarveværket

The story begins in a cobalt blue room in the master builder's house at Blaafarveværket. Here, the young Edvard Munch captured the motif that would become the foundation for Blaafarveværket's modern era: the maid Thora Dahlen, sitting on a bed.

Munch himself was overwhelmed. He described the motif as «too beautiful» to resist painting, even though it was technically complicated. It was the play of colours that drove him. Imagine the dramatic contrast: all the white – the white bed, the white sheets, the white nightgown, the white bedside table and the white curtains – set against the intensely blue wall. This was the «colour effect» he had to capture.

Time was short. Munch only stayed at Modum for five weeks, but he just managed to deliver the finished work to the Autumn Exhibition in 1884.

The masterpiece immediately resonated in the art world and can be considered a breakthrough for the young Edvard Munch.

The painting was quickly secured by the painter Frits Thaulow. Thaulow was not just anyone; he had strong ties to Modum, both through his uncle (works and bath physician Heinrich Arnold Thaulow) and as the initiator of the famous Outdoor Academy, where young artists mutually inspired each other in the fight for a fresh, Norwegian cultural life.

Rasmus Meyer's collection

After Thaulow's death in 1907, the painting began its journey. It was incorporated into the collection of the prominent art collector Rasmus Meyer in Bergen, a collection that was later donated to the city of Bergen. The painting has been featured in important Munch exhibitions outside Norway.

But now the incredible is happening: after its long journey and international career, the picture is coming home to Blaafarveværket. It's returning to the place where it was born to form the centrepiece of a major exhibition of works from CODE Bergen's collection. The story of Thora Dahlen ends where it began: at Blaafarveværket.

Read a longer article about «When Edvard Munch visited Modum» written by Sverre Følstad, curator, art historian MA, conservator NMF here.

The exhibition features not only a selection of Edvard Munch's major works, but also a generous selection of Norwegian art spanning our golden age. Well-known names such as Christian Krohg, Harriet Backer, J.C. Dahl, Theodor Kittelsen and Erik Werenskiold are richly represented in this unforgettable exhibition, which also offers some surprises.

The anniversary exhibition opens on 9 May 2026.