Jerry Goes to Norway, Part 1 - The Vigeland Bronzes

The world's largest sculpture park devoted to a single artist is in Frogner Park in Oslo, and I spent a full day there in September.  It features the work of Gustav Vigeland, and he planned the landscape as well as creating the sculptures.  They consist of three basic groups: bronzes, granite works, and wrought iron gates.  All of these feature a wide variety of humans of both sexes and all ages, and every one of them is nude.  The reason given for the nudity has been stated as a desire by the artist for them to be timeless and not stuck in period clothes.  The Norwegian government has seen to it that the sculptures are meticulously conserved and the grounds kept immaculate.  

The photos are all mine, except for the aerial shot below.

Today I will post some pictures of the male bronzes from the first portion of the park.  

Later series will feature additional bronzes, granite scuptures, and wrought iron work. 

Gustav Vigeland's self portrait below is somewhat apart from the main area.

 

Lucky Beginning

Near the beginning of the sculpture lined avenue in Frogner Park one finds this statue where one key element is shiny, having lost its patina from being frequently touched.  (See closeup below.)  I asked a male employee of the nearby Vigeland Museum about this, and he told me that visitors, both Norwegians and tourists, touch this fellow for good luck.  The Norwegians even have a catchy descriptor for this in "ta tak i den heldige Kødd," which translated roughtly as "grab the lucky pecker."  Kødd is a slang term which can also mean doing a stupid or outrageous thing.

 

Arms and legs crossed

Both the arms and legs are crossed on this statue found on Frogner's bridge.

 

Grandpa

I couldn't find any mention of this one having been named by the sculptor,

but most moderns refer to it as Grandpa and Toddler.

 

Chest pounder?

Given the atavistic nature of some of the Frogner works,

this might be a man pounding his chest . . . or not.

 

Pair

Quite a few of the bronzes along the entry avenue of the park are matched sets, 

especially on and near the bridge.  This one is one that I like quite a bit.

 

Drop kicking the baby

I have always called this one "Drop Kicking the Baby," and many others interpret it as a commentary harried fathers everywhere.  Mr. Vigeland, however, is said to have referred to it as "Man Under Attack from Genii Spirits."  Either way, it is one of the most dramatic and photographed works in park. I photographed in both the morning and afternoon for the different lighting.

 

Wrestling . . . or something

Here we see one of about a dozen statues in various media scattered around the park where figures 

(both men and women) seem to be wrestling or tossing one another around.

 

Personal favorite

This one is one of my personal favorites, and we get

 a bonus of the harried father in the background.

 

Duo

The locked eyes on this older/younger duo really stood out to me.

 

Uncle Sonny

One of the highlights of my visit to Frogner Park was getting to see this particular statue.  

Ever since I first saw it almost 10 years ago, it has reminded me of the day back on the 

ranch when my Uncle Sonny taught his twin sons to swim in the irrigation pond.  

The guy had a crude, but effective approach to life, and, after a rough start, 

the twins quickly learned to enjoy swimming.  Oh, how I miss that man!

 

Polaroid Day

It's Polaroid Day, and we start with a guy trying to impress us by lifting a small piece 

of furniture with one hand.  He looks like a guy everyone would call "Chip."

 

Proportional

Everything's nice and proportional in this photo.

 

Surly

This fellow looks a bit surly, but that's what you get 

when you pull your models in off the street.

 

When things went wrong

This is what happened when things went wrong with the balky early Polaroid developing system.  It's a shame, too, because I would really like a better look at the two guys in bed in the background.

 

Pretending

I'm not sure, but I think this one is pretending to sleep.

 

Favorite

This guy shows up twice in today's set and multiple times in my Polaroid collection.

I think he must have been a favorite of the photographer.  I like him, too.

 

Thighs up

The photographer here only captured the subject from the thighs up.

I guess he felt like he got in the important parts, such as they are.

 

45 degrees

The exact 45 degree angle tells me this was probably done on the diagonal intentionally.

 

Magazine Perusal

One sees a lot of guys in these photos looking at what are usually cheesy magazines, sometimes featuring men, sometimes women.  This may have been to get them aroused,

but it doesn't seem to have worked that often based on what I've seen.

 

Good for the type

I have other Polaroids of this guy where the technical limitations (streaks and blotches) of the hand application of the finishing fluid are very prominent.  This was quite good for the type.

 

Spartan of Hollywood Day

The son of Greek immigrants who settled in New York, Constantine Hassalevris became a professional dancer in his 20s.  He was injured in a Colorado auto accident that ended his dancing career, but a colleague gifted him with a box camera while he was recovering.  That led to his second career as a physique photographer.  The photo of an unknown above was published under the early Constantine marque, but he is better known as Spartan of Hollywood.

Editors note:  Several of the photos in today's set are not of the best quality.  I don't know 

if that is due to the original work or poor quality scans and/or conservation.  

Also, some are from pulp magazines which do not reproduce well.

 

Bob Rome

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Unknown II

The placement of the spear shaft vis-a-vis the posing strap is interesting in this one.

The model, who looks like a finely sculpted statue, is unknown, to me anyway.

 

Bodybuilders Promo

The pictures on this promotional piece are the worst quality in my Spartan collection, but I'm posting it because it demonstrates that Constantine Hassalevris was in demand in the late 1940s and early 50s for "legitimate" bodybuilder photos.  All of these were known quantities at the time, but Steve Reeves, Rex Ravelle, Eric Pederson, Bob Laurent, and Alex Aronis were top performers.  All those I mention except Steve Reeves posed nude, albeit under pseudonyms at times. And just so you know that Mr. Hassalevris was capable of high quality work, here's a studio shot of Steve Reeves.

 

Promo I - George

I cropped this from a post-liberalization ad for Spartan that featured half a dozen frontally nude models.  This one is only listed as George, but his front and center presentation caught my eye.  I'd love to know what happened to the other five photos of this guy.  They don't seem to appear in any of the online archives, resale sites, or blogs that I have been combing for hours.

 

Bob and Bob

These two are Bob John and Bob Rome, and Spartan did at least five more

photos during this session, most with the same dramatic lighting.

 

Hugh Pendleton

Spartan made quite a few photos of Hugh Pendleton,

and this is one of my favorites.  Love the impish grin.

 

Unknown III

The image is grainy, and it's even fogged at the bottom,

but the handsome model shines through anyway.

 

Promo II - Shawn Zee

Try as I might, I have been unable to find any of the photos 

of Shawn Zee advertised here anywhere online.

 

Jack Harris

Closing the set with Jack Harris and a little Spartan logo at lower right.