Theodor Kittelsen was a neo-Romantic and fantasy artist famous in Norway but relatively unknown beyond it. Here's a brief documentary featuring and explaining some of his most distinctive work. Narrator Sindrelf posted an accompanying article explaining his fondness for Kittelsen, whose cosy yet unsettling perch rests somewhere between victorian fairy art and the towering gloom of symbolism.
Ever since I was a child these paintings have made me think about how the world could hold more than what we can see, just under the surface.
I cannot walk in the mountains without imagining the trolls that live there.
I cannot enter a bog without cringing, thinking about how the tussocks I'm stepping on are probably the soft heads of some creatures below.
