Kitty Lange Kielland is a talented 19th century Norwegian artist who is known for her amazing Scandinavian landscapes. For most of her life, Hjelland painted in a realistic manner, but over time, she developed an interest in impressionism. Her paintings have been repeatedly exhibited to the general public, four times got to world exhibitions. During the first decades of the 20th century, in the last years of her life, the artist worked on miniatures.
In 1886, Hjelland created one of her most memorable works - the painting "Summer Night", which depicts Lake Dalivannet, located in the Norwegian commune of Baerum. The landscape is painted on a canvas measuring 100x135 cm in the open air - in the open air. The artist captured the smallest details of the surrounding nature at that enchanting time of day, when twilight competes with the passing day and the light of the sun invisible to the viewer. A silvery sky is reflected on the water surface; the dark mountains in the distance and the deep green of the grass accentuate the ensuing darkness. The mixture of colors indicates that Hjelland had already embarked on the path of impressionism.
The picture was immediately noticed: the National Gallery in Oslo acquired the work from the artist almost a year after creation. The historical significance of "Summer Night" is that Hjellan wrote it during the Fleskum Summer, when a group of Norwegian artists settled on the Fleskum farm. In addition to Kitty Hjelland, Christian Skredswig, Gerhard Münte, Eilif Petersen and other painters lived here, who were in search of new discoveries in landscape painting.
