Focus on Leiv Eirikson Discovering America and discuss the Background.
Christian Krohg (1852–1925) was a Norwegian painter and novelist. He came to prominence in Norway in the 1880s as a leading naturalist and as one of the Kristiania Bohemians. Beginning with Babord litt from 1879, he made several paintings depicting sailors and maritime pilots. Leiv Eirikson Discovering America can be counted to this group. It was commissioned in 1891 by the Leif Erikson Memorial Association in Chicago, an organisation set up by Norwegian Americans, which invited Krohg and other painters to a contest where they would paint Leif Erikson's discovery of America, as described in the medieval sagas of Icelanders. The winning painting would be exhibited at the World's Columbian Exposition—the Chicago World's Fair of 1893. Krohg's painting won and was sent to Chicago.
Leif Erikson World's Columbian Exposition Kristiania Bohemians discovery of America naturalist Norwegian Americans Chicago World's Fair Christian Krohg sagas of Icelanders