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After two years with von Hanmo, Kittelsen was granted sufficient financial support to continue his studies in Munich. His first two or three years there were happy period. He describes visits to the Three Ravens, the Bavarian Cellar, Binder's People's Theatre and other quaint inns and taverns. It was therefore a hard blow when, in 1879, he was informed that he could no longer be supported financially. From now on he had to pay his way by drawing for German newspapers and magazines, and by painting canvases that could be sold back in Norway through the Art Society, etc. The years that now ensued where probably the most difficult period in Kittelsen's life, which is saying quite a lot. He lived from hand to mouth, eking out an existence from day to day, running into debt, and seldom enjoying a square meal. Little of his work found its way back to Norway, and all in all, there is little we know about him during these years.
«What appeals to me are the mysterious, romantic, and magnificent aspects of our scenery, but if I cannot henceforth combine this with a wholesome study of Nature I'm afraid I'm bound to stagnate. It is becoming clearer and clearer to me what I have to do, and I have had more ideas - but I must, I must get home, otherwise it won't work.»
His return home (to Kragerø) was moving, but in the long run
Kragerø was bound to prove unsatisfactory. Nature there wasn't the
«mysterious, romantic, and magnificent» nature he had longed
for. A unique opportunity, however, presented itself when his sister
and brother in-law made their way north to tend the lighthouse on the
wind-swept little island of Skomvær in the Lofotens, the outermost of
this 125-mile chain of islands. Kittelsen joined forces, and was
gladly influenced by all the overwhelming new impressions.
The Water Sprite
His encounter with the scenery of North Norway, is represented by the collection «Troll Magic». The idea was that the novelist Jonas Lie was to write the text for this book. Nothing came of this however, and Kittelsen himself, for the first time, became responsible for both drawings and text. A drawing like the one of the sea troll was probably one of the first to have been inspired by the scenery of Nordland. It illustrates the story of Johan Persa and Elias Nilsa and their meeting with the great bullhead. At the end of this story, Elias finds a great bullhead on one of the skerries and in his anger kicks it into the sea:
«No sooner was it in the water, than it grew and grew to a terrible monster, which reared up and opened its great jaws, as large as an open coffin,and it roared: 'Now you can spit in my face once again, if you dare, Elias! But let me tell you...'»«The Sea Ghost» (Norw. Draug), too, would be difficult to place in any context but Nordland, and the creepy crawly mood Kittelsen creates in this story testifies to the intense impression that the strangely menacing and magic scenery of this part of Norway exercised on him. The other drawings of «Troll Magic» are generally set in the scenery of the East Norwegian countryside, with forests and mountains. This applies to «The Forest Troll», «The Underground People», «The Goblin», «Huldra», «The Witch», «The Water Sprite» and «Battle of Giants».
When Kittelsen returned from Lofoten in 1889 he had the idea of
utilizing subjects from the Norwegian History. He was very involved in
Nordic mythology and sagas at that time, and at first he was planning
to use subjects from Old Norse mythology. But then he came across the
woman who was to become Pesta. In «The Book of
Oblivion» he describes this encountering:
Pesta on the Stairs
She was small, lean, and bent, her face greenish-yellow with black spots. Her eyes were squinting, dark and restless and set deep in her skull now and again a strange, evil light shone in them, and they flickered round in every direction, so that it was impossible to fix her gaze. Her head bobbed up and down. Her mouth moved rapidly - sharp and bitter. She was worse than the plague itself, I thought to myself, hence her name.Pesta provides the natural germ to «The Black Death», but some time obviously ensued before the whole project began to take shape in Kittelsens mind. In a letter from Hvitsten, his home at that time, he wrote: «Between us, 'The Black Death' is giving me a great deal of trouble. My goodness what a subject for illustration!» Things were now going properly, but he soon found his surroundings improper for his workings. He had to get out into God's sacred nature. He had to be allowed to have a breather. Sole in Eggedal was the place he was looking for, but it was not until the late winter 1896 that he was able to move in there and complete his last works for «The Black Death».
«The Black Death» contains fifteen poem or poetic prose sections with drawings where most of the subjects, of course, are Kittelsens's own. There are pure moody poems like «Pesta Is Coming», «Pesta Departs» and «Autumn Evening», poems in which he has achieved a stylistic simplicity of great effect. On other occasions he creates a little tale, such as the one about «Wee Per and little Mari», who have lost their mother and father and whom the trolls take pity and care for. But Kittelsen also utilized the saga material from Andreas Faye's old book «Norwegian Folk Tales» from 1843. From here he more or less borrowed «Over Sea and River» (in Faye this is called «Pesta in Gjerrestad») and «Knut and Thore» (in Faye «The Black Death in Sætesdalen»).
He also made a great deal out of Faye's «Hedal Church in
Valdres» and «Mustad in Vardal». The drawing for the
latter is a masterpiece of suggestive horror. The absolute highlight
of «The Black Death» however, is undoubtedly the magnificent
drawing of Pesta on the stairs, where the light effect and the
strange, dizzy perspective greatly intensify the sense of horror. Both
in its subject-matter and artistic execution, this drawing deserves a
special place in Kittelsen's production.
The Black Death
From realistic descriptions of nature to pure fantasy was only a step
with Kittelsen, and the forest scene around him provided rich
inspirations. Everything in nature - stones and tufts of grass, moss and
pine branches, tree trunks, stumps and roots, - all aquired in his
imagination human or troll-like features. «Stooks of Corn in
Moonlight» is probably the best example of the thin borderline that
separates realism from fantasy: a few light strokes transform the stooks
beneath the yellow light of the autumn moon into a company of sedate
trolls making their way downhill.
Stooks of Corn in Moonlight
Forest Troll
The Pauper
Woodpecker
«Kittelsen left a void behind. He was unique - there will never be anyone to succeed him. Even the trolls have disappeared for always. At any rate, I have never seen them since.»
