Ambrosia Tønnesen
{{Short description|Norwegian sculptor (1859–1948)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2025}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Ambrosia Tønnesen
| image = Ambrosia Tønnesen.jpg
| caption =
| birth_name = Ambrosia Theodora Tønnesen
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1859|1|28|df=y}}
| birth_place = Ålesund, United Kingdoms of Sweden and Norway
| death_date = {{Death date and age |1948|1|21|1859|1|28|df=y}}
| death_place = Fana, Norway
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| nationality = Norwegian
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| occupation = Sculptor
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| awards = Officier d'Académie
}}
Ambrosia Tønnesen (28 January 1859 – 21 January 1948) was a Norwegian sculptor. She is regarded as the first professional female sculptor in Norway, and is best known for her many portraits, including statues, busts, and reliefs.
Personal life and education
Tønnesen was born in Ålesund, a daughter of steamshipmaster Abraham Tønnesen (1818–1868) and Thomine Jonasen. She worked as a schoolteacher in Bergen for some years, while also studying drawing, modeling, and painting. In 1885 she travelled to Copenhagen where she studied with painter Bertha Wegmann and sculptor Stephan Sinding. She then studied with sculptor Albert Wolff in Berlin, and further with René de Saint-Marceaux in Paris.{{cite encyclopedia|title=Ambrosia Tønnesen |encyclopedia=Norsk biografisk leksikon|first=Tone |last=Wikborg |editor=Helle, Knut|publisher=Kunnskapsforlaget |location=Oslo |url=https://nbl.snl.no/Ambrosia_Tønnesen | language=Norwegian |accessdate=20 January 2019}} Ambrosia met her partner, Mary Banks, in 1888 and the two women lived together for 30 years in Paris, and Bergen, Norway.{{cite web|last1=Havmoeller |first1=Birthe |title=Lesbian Art History in Europe 1850 – 1950 |url=https://www.femininemoments.dk/blog/1850-1950/ |website=Feminine Moments |date=25 March 2017}}
Career
File:Monumental marble bust of author Amalie Skram (1846–1905) by Ambrosia Tønnesen (1916), on display in Bergen Public Library, Norway (photo 2018-03-18) D.jpg, on display at the Bergen Public Library]]
Among Tønnesen's early sculptures are Våren (1885), Sneklokken (1887; a young girl), Den onde Hjørdis (1890), and Den korsfestede Kristus ("The Crucified Christ"; marble sculpture in Årstad Church, 1890). She made a large number of portraits (statues, busts, and reliefs), and is regarded as the first female Norwegian sculptor who made her living from her art. Her portraits include statues of Ole Bull, Johan Christian Dahl, and Camilla Collett; reliefs of Dorothe Engelbretsdatter and Petter Dass; and busts of Edvard Grieg (marble, 1902), Ole Irgens (bronze, 1906), Amalie Skram (marble, 1916, at Bergen Kunstmuseum), Gina Krog (bronze, 1919), Claus Fasting, bronze, 1924), Christian Michelsen (bronze, 1924), Henrik Angell (bronze, 1924), Wollert Konow (bronze, 1925), and {{ill|Haakon Wallem|no}} (bronze, 1942).{{cite encyclopedia|title=Ambrosia Tønnesen |encyclopedia=Store norske leksikon |editor-last=Bolstad | editor-first=Erik |publisher=Norsk nettleksikon |location=Oslo |url=https://snl.no/Ambrosia_Tønnesen |language=Norwegian |accessdate=20 January 2019}}
Tønnesen was decorated with the French order Officier d'Académie.{{cite encyclopedia|year=1930|title=Tønnesen, Ambrosa Theodora |encyclopedia=Hvem er hvem? |editor1-link=Hjalmar Steenstrup |editor-last=Steenstrup |editor-first=Hjalmar |publisher=Aschehoug|location=Oslo |url=https://runeberg.org/hvemerhvem/1930/0429.html |page=429 |language=Norwegian|access-date=20 January 2019}}
Death
She died in Fana (now Bergen) on 21 January 1948, aged 88.
Literature
- {{cite book | first=Tone |last=Wikborg |chapter=Med hammer og meisel – Ambrosia Tønnesen. Norges første profesjonelle billedhugger |editor-first= K. |editor-last=Vogt |title=Den skjulte tradisjon – skapende kvinner i kulturhistorien |location= Bergen |year=1982 |pages=161–171 }}
- Jorunn Veiteberg (2009) Ambrosia Tønnesen. Stenhugger i det FineTurid Larsen (23 October 2009) [https://web.archive.org/web/20091103015106/http://www.dagsavisen.no/kultur/article447467.ece En ugift kvinne med suksess] Dagsavisen. Retrieved from Webarchive
References
{{Commons category|Ambrosia Tønnesen}}
{{Reflist}}
{{Authority control (arts)}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tonnesen, Ambrosia}}
Category:19th-century Norwegian sculptors
Category:19th-century Norwegian women artists
Category:20th-century Norwegian sculptors
Category:Norwegian LGBTQ artists