News & Events

The revival of rosemaling in the Norwegian-American community is often credited to Per Lysne.  He was born December 8, 1880 in Laerdal, Sogn, Norway.  His father, Anders Olsen, was an artist whose work was recognized at the Paris Exposition in 1893 and it was from him that Lysne learned rosemaling.
Lysne immigrated to Stoughton, Wisconsin with his wife in 1907 when he was 27 years old.  He worked in the Stoughton wagon factory as a painter and decorator of wagons adding fancy striping and scrolls to the finished wagon boxes.  When the factory closed during the Depression, Lysne took up his artist’s brushes and turned to rosemaling
 
The revival of rosemaling in the Norwegian-American community is often credited to Per Lysne.  He was born December 8, 1880 in Laerdal, Sogn, Norway.  His father, Anders Olsen, was an artist whose work was recognized at the Paris Exposition in 1893 and it was from him that Lysne learned rosemaling.
Lysne immigrated to Stoughton, Wisconsin with his wife in 1907 when he was 27 years old.  He worked in the Stoughton wagon factory as a painter and decorator of wagons adding fancy striping and scrolls to the finished wagon boxes.

Livsreise is privileged to have a rosemaled cupboard; created in Norway by an unknown carpenter but painted Per Lysne. Prior to its coming to Livsreise, it was the property of the “Little Norway” open air museum near Blue Mounds that attracted visitors for 75 years.  This cupboard is part of a short-term exhibit titled, “Småbiter av Per Lysne”  in our main hall gallery space.

(Text courtesy of the Stoughton Historical Society)

(Vintage Little Norway postcard from the Livsreise artifact collection.)