Ole Bull, (sculpture).

Ole Bull, (sculpture).

Fjelde, Jacob, 1859-1896, sculptor.

Henry-Bonnard Bronze Company, founder.

Ole Bull, (sculpture).

Commissioned ca. 1895. Modeled and cast 1896. Dedicated May 17, 1897.

Digital Reference:

Sculpture: bronze with green patina; Base: granite.

Sculpture: approx. 8 ft. x 4 ft. 6 in. x 3 ft. 8 in.; Base: approx. 8 ft. x 5 ft. 7 in. x 5 ft. 7 in.

(On proper right side of sculpture:) Jakob Fjelde.sculptor (On proper left side of sculpture:) /CAST BY THE HENRY-BONNARD BRONZE CO. N.Y. 1896 (On base front, in low relief:) OLE/BULL (On base back, in low relief:) ERECTED/BY/NORWEGIAN/AMERICANS (Musical score for the opening phrase of the song "Saeterjentens Sondag" or "The Goat Girl's Sunday" appears on the front of the sculpture) signed Founder's mark appears.

Full-length figure of nineteenth century Norwegian violinist Ole Bull. He wears his trademark tuxedo and holds the violin in his proper left hand and rests it on his shoulder in a playing position. His proper right arm is bent, poised to play, though the bow is missing.

Portrait male -- Bull, Ole -- Full length

Performing Arts -- Music -- Violin

Ethnic -- Norwegian

Dress -- Ceremonial -- Formal Dress

Outdoor Sculpture -- Minnesota -- Minneapolis

Administered by City of Minneapolis, Minneapolis Arts Commission, 350 South 5th Street, City Hall, Room 200, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55415

Located Loring Park, Harmon & Maple Place, Minneapolis, Minnesota

This is the first public sculpture sited in Minneapolis, and it was funded with $8,000 collected from the local Norwegian-American community, which commissioned the sculpture in 1895. Ole Bull (1810-1880) was a world famous Norwegian violinist who toured the Midwest. A plaster cast of the sculpture was unveiled on May 17, 1896 at the Minneapolis Exposition, but the artist had died twelve days before the unveiling. The work was cast posthumously. IAS files contain a survey form from the Minneapolis Arts Commission Public Art Survey, an article from Twin Cities (March 1986), pg. 69-79, and clippings from the Fjelde collections at the Norwegian-American Historical Association. For related reading, see "The Divided Heart: Scandinavian immigrant artists, 1850-1950: October 1-November 7, 1982, University Gallery, University of Minnesota," (Minneapolis: The Gallery, [1982]) and "Painting and Sculpture in Minnesota, 1820-1914," by Rena Neumann Coen, (Minneapolis: Published by the University of Minnesota Press for the University Gallery of the University of Minnesota, c1976). See also the Minneapolis Public Library Special Collections File: Sculpture: Ole Bull.

Treated 2000 March; August-October. Upper Midwest Conservation Association (Minneapolis, MN). Treatment report on file with conservator.

Save Outdoor Sculpture, Minnesota, Minneapolis - St. Paul survey, 1993.

National Park Service, American Monuments and Outdoor Sculpture Database, MN5012, 1989.

Monumental News, Aug. 1897, pg. 471.

SOS Assessment Award, 1997.

SOS Conservation Treatment Award, 1999.

SOS Conservation Notification Report, 2000.

Twin Cities, (March 1986): pg 71.

Monumental News, Aug. 1957, pg. 471.

The information provided about this artwork was compiled as part of the Smithsonian American Art Museum's Inventories of American Painting and Sculpture database, designed to provide descriptive and location information on artworks by American artists in public and private collections worldwide.

Inventories of American Painting and Sculpture, Smithsonian American Art Museum, P.O. Box 37012, MRC 970, Washington, D.C. 20013-7012

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