Kittelsenhuset in Kragerø is the childhood home of Theodor Kittelsen (1857-1914), the artist who gave Norway's trolls, water spirits and forest creatures their definitive visual form. His illustrations of Nøkken, Soria Moria castle, and Askeladden are woven into the national imagination so deeply that most Norwegians picture his versions when they hear these folk tales.
Kittelsen grew up in this modest house before his talent was recognized and he received a scholarship to study art in Munich. The coastal landscape and dark forests around Kragerø shaped his artistic sensibility, and echoes of the Telemark scenery appear throughout his later work. He went on to illustrate Asbjørnsen and Moe's classic fairy tale collections, creating images that remain iconic more than a century later.
The house is now a museum run by Kragerø municipality, with exhibitions about Kittelsen's life and art. A walk through the rooms offers a glimpse of the environment that sparked one of Norway's most distinctive artistic voices.
Kittelsen grew up in this modest house before his talent was recognized and he received a scholarship to study art in Munich. The coastal landscape and dark forests around Kragerø shaped his artistic sensibility, and echoes of the Telemark scenery appear throughout his later work. He went on to illustrate Asbjørnsen and Moe's classic fairy tale collections, creating images that remain iconic more than a century later.
The house is now a museum run by Kragerø municipality, with exhibitions about Kittelsen's life and art. A walk through the rooms offers a glimpse of the environment that sparked one of Norway's most distinctive artistic voices.
