“Oslo Kunstforening’s (Oslo Art Association, OK) main goal is to support Norwegian artists and to present international artists who have not been shown in Norway before. We have done that for the past 180 years.
Oslo Kunstforening was founded by the art-interested public to secure a permanent exhibition venue for visual art in Norway – a couple of years before the National Gallery was decided to be established. The fact that the Oslo Kunstforening has never had its own collection like the subsequent art associations is because they did not want to stand in the way of the plans to establish a National Gallery.
Oslo Kunstforening is a non-commercial member-based association, supported by Oslo Municipality and the Arts Council Norway. Since 1986, OK has awarded an art grant, thanks to support from Sparebanken Oslo and Akershus. In 2008, Sparebankstiftelsen DNB, in collaboration with Oslo Kunstforening, started awarding a grant to an artist selected through a jury process. The grant has been awarded to Ellisif Hals and Susanne Skeide (2008), Ignas Krunglevicius (2009), Ann Cathrin November Høibo (2010), Kaia Hugin (2011), Marie Buskov (2012), Sandra Mujinga (2014), Andrea Bakketun and Christian Tony Norum (2015), Tor Børresen (2016), Emilija Škarnulytė (2017) and Eirik Sæther (2018).
Oslo Kunstforening is the oldest art institution and member organization in Norwegian cultural life.
Princess Astrid, Mrs Ferner is Oslo Kunstforening’s highest protector.”
Photo: Oslo Kunstforening.