The beginning and student days
Already at thirteen Gullvåg began studying at the private painting school of the Trønder-painter Roar Matheson Bye (1895-1988). The main themes here were portraits, still life and landscapes, in drawing as well as painting. Two years later, in 1976, his talents gave him the possibility to begin evening courses at the Art Academy in Trondheim (until 1977 Trondheim Art School). John Anton Risan led the evening courses. The following year Gullvåg turned 17 and was finally old enough to begin as a regular student. Now he studied with the Swedish painter and art-pedagogue Georg Suttner, who brought important impulses to his academy years. Suttner has remained an important discussion partner throughout Gullvåg’s entire artistic practice.
From an early age Gullvåg developed a solid knowledge of Trondheim Art Museum’s rich holdings (up until 1997 Trondhjem Art Society), as well as of the European tradition of art, through, among others, the comprehensive library of the Nordenfjeldske Museum of Applied Art. In the course of years we find a number of paintings paying homage to works in Trondheim Art Museum’s collection, among others,
Echo (1993) is a paraphrase over Ludvig Karsten’s Paraphrase over Rembrandt’s
Bathsheba.
His clear emphasis on contours and composition descry inspiration from Bjarne Ness (1902-1927), an artist who, in spite of his short career, managed to attain a significant possitionposition in Norwegian art history. The youthful Gullvåg greatly admired Bjarne Ness and often sought out the museum’s large collection of Ness drawings and paintings. As with Ness, Gullvåg developed his drawing skills early on and was proclaimed to be a young genius. This was a romantic notion, a short and , intense artist’s life, in which every sacrifice was made for art. Also Gullvåg sacrificed much for art; he was, among other things, exempted from military service on the grounds that he was a “compulsive painter”. In drawing this parallel, it is worth noting that he who survives must demonstrate his superior quality repeatedly, for the rest of his life.
An important exhibition in 1981: “
27 Young Painters”, Kunstnernesens Hus (“The Artists’ House”)
Two central paintings from this period:
Green Self Portrait, 1979 (Trondheim Art Museum)
Summer Evening, 1979 (Debut UKS, Spring Exhibition, Kunstnernes Hus)