Every Atom is Colour
February 21–August 24, 2025
Kode Bergen Art Museum is proud to present an extensive exhibition on the pioneering Norwegian painter Harriet Backer (1845–1932). A prominent colorist with an exceptional sensitivity to light and atmosphere, Backer was a leading artist of her time, holding a central position in the Scandinavian art world.
Harriet Backer. Every Atom is Colour will explore Backer’s interior scenes, landscapes and portraits, bringing together nearly 80 paintings, including rarely seen works from private collections.
The exhibition places Harriet Backer’s life and work in a time when society and women’s rights were undergoing radical change throughout Europe. Backer established herself as an artist on a cosmopolitan art scene, spending fifteen years abroad in Munich and later in Paris, before returning to her home country.
Backer’s main inspiration in France was impressionism and the paintings of Claude Monet. She was an exceptional colorist and a skilled portrayer of light, and she created an eminently personal style that blends interior scenes and open-air painting. She drew inspiration from the realist movement as well and is famous for her tender portraits of rural life and her interest in church interiors.
Backer’s interiors quickly gained her recognition internationally and were shown across Europe and at the World Exposition in Chicago in 1893. She participated in the 1889 and 1900 Expositions Universelles, earning a silver medal in 1889.
Music was an important part of Backer's life and one of the main subjects of her paintings. Her close sister Agathe Backer Grøndahl was a composer and a renowned pianist on the European concert scene. The connection to music extends to Backer’s use of color, where deep tones and contrasts harmonize like musical chords.
In an era when women were not considered to be full citizens in Norway, Harriet Backer broke barriers and became a key figure in the art scene of her time. In 1888, she established a renowned painting school in Oslo, which she ran until 1909. There, she taught some of the most notable artists of the next generation, including Nikolai Astrup, Harald Sohlberg, Charlotte Wankel, Halfdan Egedius, and Astrid Welhaven. She received the support of collector Rasmus Meyer, also a great patron of Edvard Munch.
Through her positions on purchasing committees and exhibition juries, Backer played a substantial role in establishing equality and professionalism in the Norwegian art world, which is still apparent today.
Harriet Backer. Every Atom is Colour concludes an international tour initiated by the National Museum in Oslo and Kode Bergen Art Museum, organized in collaboration with Nationalmuseum Stockholm and Musée d’Orsay, Paris. As the first major exhibition dedicated to Backer outside Norway since 1925, it has already been seen by more than 600,000 visitors in Paris, Stockholm and Oslo.
Since the tour began, newly discovered works have been added, further enriching the presentation of Backer’s artistry. Additionally, Kode will host an international conference on Backer's oeuvre and present a rich music program showcasing the legacy of Agathe Backer-Grøndahl.
Notes to editors
The exhibition opens on Friday, February 21 at 4pm in Permanenten, Kode. For further press information, please contact Head of Press: Maria Tripodianos, maria.tripodianos [at] kodebergen.no / T +47 414 59 187
The exhibition at Kode is curated by Tove Haugsbø. Vibeke Waallann Hansen is curator at the National Museum in Oslo, Carina Rech is curator at Nationalmuseum and Leïla Jarbouai at Musée d’Orsay.
An extensive exhibition catalogue, Harriet Backer. Every Atom is Colour published by Hirmer Verlag in English and Norwegian will accompany the exhibition. Additionally, a new children’s book, Harriet Backer: In My Studio based on Backer’s own letters will be published by Kode Bergen Art Museum and the Oslo National Museum in Norwegian and English.
Harriet Backer. Every Atom is Colour is supported by the Savings Bank Foundation DNB, The Bergesen Foundation, Yvonne and Bjarne Rieber, Ragnhild Willumsen Grieg and Per Grieg Jr, H. Westfal-Larsen og Hustru Anna Westfal-Larsens Almennyttige Fond, and the Grieg Foundation.
