Vigeland Sculpture Park

The Vigeland installation in Frogner Park is the life's work of the sculptor Gustav Vigeland, more than two hundred bronze and granite figures of human beings at every age and mood, arranged along a grand axis. At its centre rises the Monolith, a towering column of intertwined bodies, and the whole park is free and open at all hours.

History

In the middle of the 18th century Hans Jacob Scheel laid out a Baroque garden at Frogner Manor; Bernt Anker bought the estate in 1790, and Benjamin Wegner, who bought it in 1836, turned the garden into a romantic park around 1840. The City of Oslo bought the remaining land in 1896, opened it to the public in 1904, and decided to place Gustav Vigeland's fountain and statues here; the area was ready for the fountain in 1924, and the final plan was approved in 1932 (Wikipedia, Frogner Park).

What you'll find

• The Monolith - the towering granite column of entwined human figures.
• The bronze bridge - the figures along the bridge, including the famous Angry Boy.
• The fountain and wheel of life - the great bronze fountain and its cycle of figures.
• The park axis - the whole grand arrangement of sculpture through the green park.

When to go

Year-round, since it is open and free at all times; summer for green lawns and long light, winter for snow on the bronzes. Early morning gives you the sculptures almost alone.

Before you go

It is a park to wander rather than a ticketed sight, so the pleasure is in the strolling and the strangeness of the figures. It can be busy on fine days, especially around the famous Angry Boy. The mass of nude figures is intense and singular, which delights some and unsettles others.

Nearby

The Frogner district and its museum are around it; central Oslo is a short tram ride.

Key facts