Edvard Munch's 11 Aula paintings have adorned the walls in the University Aula since 1916. The Sun, Alma Mater and The History are the most famous.
The story behind the Aula paintings includes both the so-called "Aula dispute" – the discussion about who would decorate the Aula – and the story about Edvard Munch's long-lasting and painstaking creative work with the paintings.
The Aula dispute
At the beginning of the 1900s, the University of Oslo decides to build a new and larger aula. The question soon arises: Who should decorate the walls inside the hall? Some of the money set aside for the aula is earmarked for art, and this becomes a prestigious commission.
A committee with representatives from the university and the art community invites selected artists to present suggestions. The University wants a decoration that complements the neoclassical building, with traditional Greek features.
The invited artists do not follow the order, however, and a number of them use a more contemporary expression. Traditionalism and modernism collide, and the committee rejects all the entries from the first round. The decision creates quite a stir among the public.
But [our] University –? Yes, the Royal Fredriks University in the year of its 100th anniversary, anno 1911 ... It answers the experts, which they've solemnly invited, about as follows: 'Bah'!
– Dagbladet newspaper, 8 August 1911
In 1911 the committee takes a different approach to the matter, opting to hold a closed competition between Emanuel Vigeland, brother of the famous sculptor Gustav Vigeland, and Edvard Munch. The two artists are invited to do an artistic trial run in the Aula. Vigeland, at least to some extent, presents a style adapted to the room's classical interior. Munch goes his own ways, with free brushstrokes and colours that radically part with the tradition of realism.
The jury can't make up its mind this time either, and the Aula opens without decorations.
At this point, Munch takes matters into his own hands. The competition is important to him: After a period in Denmark with treatment for alcoholism and nervous breakdowns, he wishes to renew his image in his native country. The Aula commission ends up at the center of these efforts.
With help from good friends, Munch gets his pictures for the Aula exhibited so people can see them and make up their own opinion. They love what they see. With public support, the committee gives the commission to Munch in 1914.
In 1916, the paintings are mounted in the University Aula. Today, they are the only paintings by Munch that still hang in their original space – right where he thought they should be.
The creation of the Aula paintings
The Aula decoration is Munch's first large commission for a public space. He works tierlessly with the motifs, and leaves behind several hundred works and sketches with connections to the Aula project.
To be able to paint in formats up to fifty square metres, he builds an outdoor studio on his property.
According to the assignment, the works he creates should adapt to the style of the room and the university's mission. Munch solves this in his very own way, with motifs that represent the university and sicences – combined with a tribute to the sun as the origin of all life.
He uses a modern idiom that breaks with the classic style. At the beginning of the 20th century, the university is changing from an elitist enterprise to a more open institution, and this transition is also reflected in the paintings.
– "I wanted the decorations to form a complete and independent world of ideas, and I wanted their visual expression to be both distinctively Norwegian and universally human"
Explore the Aula paintings
Visit the University Aula?
The Aula is open on selected Saturday's throughout the year and Tuesday–Friday throughout summer. Entry is free of charge, and visitors can join a guided tour on most days.