Håkon Gullvåg: Britannia Artist 2026 - 2029 

When Palmehaven was designed over a hundred years ago, the architect dreamt of walls filled with art. Now that dream is becoming a reality.

It is with great pleasure that the Britannia Hotel welcomes Håkon Gullvåg, one of Norway’s leading contemporary artists, as a Britannia artist.

The story begins in Trondheim, where, at the age of twelve, Håkon Gullvåg discovered his maternal grandfather’s paintbox. Just a year later, he began studying under the painter Roar Matheson Bye, who was quick to recognise his remarkable talent. At seventeen, he was admitted to the Trondheim School of Art, where his teachers included John Anton Risan and Georg Suttner.

In 1978, Gullvåg made his debut at the Trøndelag Exhibition, and just three years later, the National Gallery acquired his works for the first time. In 2016, he was appointed Commander of the Order of St. Olav in recognition of his outstanding contribution to Norwegian art and cultural life.

What distinguishes Håkon Gullvåg is his extraordinary ability to captivate and resonate with audiences across generations and artistic tastes. Few artists have earned such an enduring place in the public imagination. His work transcends traditional boundaries, establishing him as one of Norway’s most cherished and widely admired artists.

Gullvåg’s art is distinguished by rich colours, expressive brushstrokes and a distinctive visual language in which reality and imagination intertwine. Through portraits, still lifes and narrative compositions, he explores themes of identity, memory and the relationship between nature and culture.

In his portraits, including those of members of the Norwegian royal family and prominent figures in the country’s cultural life, Gullvåg brings together the familiar and the imaginative. With a masterful interplay of colour, contrast and expressive brushwork, he captures the individuality of his subjects while inviting viewers to discover their own interpretations.

A period spent in London during the 1980s marked an important chapter in his artistic development. Inspired by the British painting tradition and the works of Frank Auerbach and Leon Kossoff, Gullvåg embraced an increasingly liberated approach to colour, composition and the expressive possibilities of paint itself. Throughout his work, people, animals and nature come together in unexpected and often intriguing ways. The familiar meets the mysterious, creating richly layered compositions that invite closer contemplation, with new details revealing themselves upon every viewing.

At the heart of Britannia lies Palmehaven, one of Trondheim’s most iconic and treasured spaces. Gullvåg’s former teacher, Roar Matheson Bye, once recounted how architect Morten Anker Bachke, who designed Palmehaven, had envisioned its walls adorned with modern French art. Although this vision was never realised, the aspiration to give art a natural place within Palmehaven’s magnificent surroundings has endured. Now, more than a century later, that original vision is finally brought to life through the works of Håkon Gullvåg.

At Palmehaven, Gullvåg presents large-scale still lifes, a genre he has been working in for several decades. Gullvåg is inspired by the freedom the genre affords to explore purely painterly techniques and effects. The still life provides an opportunity to experiment with form. It can sometimes drift into the abstract, only to capture our attention the next moment with an apple or a vegetable painted so realistically that we are tempted to reach out and pick it. It is the interplay between the recognisable and the unexpected that makes them worth lingering over. Colour takes centre stage, and the works engage in a dialogue with the gallery’s architecture and lighting.

Håkon Gullvåg’s connection to Britannia Hotel spans several decades. In the 1990s, he joined forces with fellow artist Håkon Bleken in a campaign to preserve Trondheim’s historic Svartlamon district, then under threat of demolition.

The artistic partnership between the two also became part of Britannia’s own story. In 2002, their collaborative work, Trondheim, was installed at the hotel, establishing a lasting connection between two of Norway’s most distinguished artists and Britannia’s artistic heritage. Now, more than two decades later, Gullvåg returns with a major exhibition, adding a new chapter to a relationship deeply rooted in the hotel’s history.

For generations, art has been an integral part of Britannia Hotel’s history. From its architecture and interiors to its paintings and artistic collaborations, art has played a defining role in shaping the hotel’s distinctive character, where timeless traditions meet contemporary expression.

Håkon Gullvåg’s enduring connection to Britannia is a natural continuation of this legacy. Deeply rooted in Trondheim yet enriched by international influences, his artistic vision reflects the very essence of the hotel’s own identity. For guests, his works offer an invitation to pause, look a little closer and discover the details that reveal themselves over time. Each painting opens up new perspectives, inspires curiosity and adds another layer of depth to the Britannia experience.