Peder Aadnes

Peder Aadnes
Born	(1739-08-10)10 August 1739 Odnes, Søndre Land, Norway
Died	20 June 1792(1792-06-20) (aged 52) Ringerike, Norway
Nationality	Norwegian
Occupation	Painter

Peder Pedersen Aadnes (10 August 1739 – 20 June 1792) was a Norwegian rural painter.^[1]

Aadnes was born in Odnes in Fluberg. Unusually for a rural painter, he chose typical upper-class subjects for his repertoire. He decorated churches, farm interiors, and furnishings throughout eastern Norway in the Rococo style. Aadnes also painted portraits. His style is often referred to as a transitional form in Norwegian painting, from more traditional folk art to the new style represented by Johan Christian Dahl. ^[2]

Aadnes was a pioneering artist in the tradition of Dutch and German painters. His style paved the way for the later traditional floral decorations and floral paintings known as rosemaling in villages in Norway, and also formed a backdrop for Norwegian Romantic nationalism. Because of Aadnes's role between traditional Dutch and German Rococo, and between the new Norwegian painting on the one hand and traditional floral paintings on the other, he is sometimes referred to as the greatest Norwegian artist of the 1700s.^[3]