Lower Ramme - Villa Munch

Edvard Munch bought the property Nedre Ramme as a 47-year-old in 1910 and owned it all his life until his death in 1944. Munch spent a lot of time abroad in the period 1890-1909. After many years of an unhealthy lifestyle, he entered Dr. Jacobsen's clinic in Copenhagen in 1908. In 1909, a competition was announced to decorate the University's banquet hall. Munch probably had the competition for the Hall Decorations in mind when he returned to Norway that same year. He found the first motifs at Skrubben in Kragerø, while at Ramme the artist found the motifs for Forskerne and Alma Mater. They both show a mother with an infant in her arms, with several children playing and exploring around her. Alma Mater, like History and the Sun, became one of three main fields for the Aula decorations. The Alma Mater motif was one of those that Munch rehearsed and worked on the most. His latest version is from 1940. At Nedre Ramme, Munch had a large outdoor studio set up, as well as a printing press on the second floor of the building.

At Ramme, Munch sought proximity to nature, animals, sunlight and the sea. Surrounded by the sea and the forest, together with his animals and helpers, he created beautiful works with motifs of bathers and sun worshippers, people and animals in rural settings. In several of the motifs, you can easily recognize the area's rocky and coastal landscape in a vitalist style. The area and the models were rendered with the artist's modern and bold brushstrokes and sure lines. The motifs became lush, full of life and colour. Then he also wrote himself that he had found the most beautiful property along the Kristiania fjord.

"In Munch's footsteps"
The Framework Foundation for Art, Culture and Nature, together with the Sparebank Foundation and Vestby Municipality, has created a cultural trail on the property, where you can discover Munch's motifs placed in the natural landscape where they belong. You can walk this when you want on your own, and be inspired by the site-specific art on a total of 11 signs along the paths. There is a main information sign up in the forest behind Villa Munch, and the cultural trail ends at Rammelabben with the statue of "Solveig with the apple". It was created by the artist Peter Linde.

Villa Munch
The house was fully renovated in 2023 and can be rented out in its entirety. There are four double rooms with attached bathrooms, several living rooms and kitchens. To see the house indoors, you can book a tour with one of Ramme's tour guides. In Munch's living rooms, they scratched their way to the original color of the walls, and the characteristic yellow color can be found again in three of his self-portraits from his time at Ramme. The house is decorated with copies of his famous Hvitsten works. Munch's fruit and vegetable garden has been recreated, and a small French culture garden has been created that links the property to Havlystparken.

Tekst and content in cooperation with Camilla Augusta Søhol, Rammestiftelsen