The exhibition Gustav Vigeland. A scream on the sofa shows key works of Gustav Vigeland from the 1890s, in addition to a small selection of later sculptures. Throughout Vigeland's art, human existence has been a focus point. His life's work, The Vigeland Park in Oslo, explores the nuances of what it means to be human. With this exhibition, the public gets to experience a lesser-known side of Norway's most famous sculptor.

The exhibition consists of 21 sculptures: 15 in bronze and six in plaster. The majority of the bronze sculptures stem from an early phase of Vigeland’s work as an artist, primarily between 1892 and 1903. Two of the bronze sculptures and six of the works in plaster are from a later period, and were created between 1917 and 1929.

Through the exhibition, visitors are invited to reflect on Vigeland’s significance and relevance today, in that it examines existential themes such as loneliness, restlessness, longing and exclusion. The works blend melancholy, vulnerability and fear of rejection with a sense of powerlessness and desperation. What are Vigeland’s sculptures saying about the difficulty of being human – in our time, too? And can your encounter with them teach you something about yourself?

The exhibition is a collaboration between Norway’s National Museum of Art, Architecture and Design and the Vigeland Museum, in connection with the Vigeland Anniversary 2019.