“Juleglide” by Lars Jorde, 1895-1896
Else Marie Roland sent me this postcard many years ago. I had no idea how famous this image called “Juleglide” was until I started looking for information about the artist. The Norwegian artist and illustrator, Lars Jorde, painted the picture shown on this postcard above in 1895/1896. It measures 108 x 143 cm or 42” x 56” and is oil on canvas. The original painting is to be found at the Norwegian National Gallery in Oslo. As the title suggests it is a Christmas sledding/sliding scene with the sled tracks evident on the snowy hillside.
There are four or five sleighs or sleds and several figures though they are somewhat difficult to see. People are in the open lit doorway, one person by the pony with the lantern on the snowy ground and another figure kneeling in the snow by a sled. At first I thought the tree branches were reflections in the lit windows but upon a more careful examination it proved to be trees in front of the house. The artist’s choice of colors emphasizes the cold outdoors and the warmth inside. It is easy to imagine laughing children sliding down that hill in the sleds and the ponies pulling the sleds back up the hill for another ride.
Lars Jorde was born in Vang, Norway in 1865 and later settled in Lillehammer, Oppland, Norway. He died in 1939. Several of his works are displayed in the Norwegian National Gallery in Oslo.
He illustrated the non-fiction account of the polar expedition of 1893-1896 written by Fridtjof Nansen and Otto Neumann Sverdrup titled “Fram over polhavet” written in 1897. He also illustrated the novel “I cancelliraadens dage” by Trygve Andersen published in 1907. This book is a series of ten short stories based on Norwegian legends that are linked together through the people and villages in such a way to make one complete story or book.
A check of Google Images under the name Lars Jorde will show many of his works. He painted in several different styles so it is interesting to look at the images.
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