Oda Krohg

Who was Oda Krohg?

Oda Krohg, née Othilia Pauline Christine Lasson was a Norwegian painter, and the wife of her teacher and colleague Christian Krohg.

Having little formal art education, she quickly absorbed the knowledge of the artistic environment she was a part of. Her debut was in 1886 with Ved Kristianiafjorden, which now is stored in the National Gallery of Norway. Her first years as an artist are seen as an example of new Romantic painting. Her later portrait works make another, more robust impression.

She was the second daughter of public attorney Christian Lasson and Alexandra von Munthe av Morgenstierne. Her maternal grandmother was a Russian princess. She grew up in a liberal-conservative household, along with eight sisters and two brothers. Her brother Per Lasson became a noted composer and her sister Caroline Bokken Lasson a singer and writer.

In 1881 she married the businessman Jørgen Engelhardt, with whom she had two children. She split from Engelhardt in 1883, and divorced him in 1888. In 1885 she became a student of Erik Werenskiold and Christian Krohg, the latter she would marry in October 1888. In 1885, their daughter Nana was born, and in 1889, their son Per, who also would be a known painter. In the period 1901–1909, the family lived in Paris.