When I visit national museums in capital cities, I begin to understand the culture a little more deeply. What do they treasure and what do they wonder about? Why is there a large gallery of sculptures that are only copies of pieces found elsewhere in the world? What artifacts were deemed worthy of keeping?

The national gallery of Oslo is so large it takes the better part of a day to visit. Its collection is vast and eclectic. The museum, oddly, doesn’t have the best collection of Norwegian folk art that we encounter on this trip. But it does have some stunning pieces. The leather tool work on a set of dining chairs catches my attention. I have admired a similar set at Akershus castle. But here, the exhibit shows us how the leather is embossed and overlaid in gold leaf and dyes. Incredible artistry and innovation in the Middle Ages.

Another gallery displays gowns of the current and past queens. I don’t like a single gown of Queen Sonya’s. I’m not sure what that says about either my or the current queen’s fashion sense. However, Queen Maude (from the 1920’s) was an art deco maven. Her gowns and her taste in furnishings was exquisite. At least in my humble opinion. We marvel at her incredibly small waist that I could likely put my hands around. I shudder as I consider the self torture required to “train” that shape.

Exhibits continue to highlight household items from each decade. We watch newsreels from a telephone box and wander through pop culture icons. Some are familiar to us, most are not.

About halfway through the museum, we decide to stop for a vaffle with brown cheese. Brown cheese is creamy like butter and melts in your mouth. Perhaps not the healthiest of lunches, but when in Norway…..

The afternoon is devoted to more modern art. The galleries are filled with Norwegian artists and important European paintings. We see Dutch masters and the great impressionists. There are Dali’s and Picasso’s. There are modern installations from unknown artists that I didn’t like. It is hard to call empty walls and child like streaks of paint art. Ok maybe it is art, but definitely not talent.

Surprisingly, I grow very fond of Edvard Munch, famous for “The Scream”. Munch began painting as a child and went through many iterations. His paintings are not beautiful but they are emotionally haunting in a way I didn’t expect. They speak to me.

Norway’s most famous sculpture Gustav Vigelund is also on full display. You can recognize Vigelund because his subjects are always fully nude and usually carved in some form of motion. The bronze statue in the museum seems demure compared to the hundreds of statues scattered through the parks of Oslo.

Just when we thought we had seen it all, we realize there is a large special exhibit on gothic themes of life and death throughout history. While often macabre, the exhibit holds many surprises. My favorite unexpected treasure is a Van Gogh of a skeleton smoking a cigarette.

I love visiting world class museums. In every encounter, I find something I never knew existed. An that discovery is always worth the price of admission.