Vi vil med dette få rette en hjertelig takk til Bergen Billedgalleri, som med elskverdig imøtekommenhet har stillet hele sin nyervervede samling av Lars Hertervigs akvareller til disposisjon for denne utstilling. Likeledes takker vi de private eiere og Nasjonalgalleriet som med stor forståelse har latt oss supplere utstillingen med utlån fra sine samlinger. En spesiell takk retter vi til Bergen Billedgalleri's direktør, Aslaug Blytt, som på vår anmodning har skrevet denne katalogs forord.

Lars Hertervig (1830-1902) was a Norwegian painter from Tysvær. He is best known for his paintings with nature motifs in a romantic style.
In what is called Hertervig's first major period (1854-56), he painted in the style of Düsseldorf romantic landscape painting where he emphasized deep color and mood contrasts. Hertervig suffered from what at the time was called melancholy and schizophrenia and was for a period a patient at Gaustad Asyl outside Oslo.
After admission to Gaustad, Hertervig's second major period began in 1958, where he painted mostly watercolors and made drawings with motifs from Stavanger. Later, light gained greater importance in the paintings and it eventually became the most central element in his paintings. From 1870 and until his death Hertervig received support from the poor fund, took odd jobs and lived with family and acquaintances. In 1914, he was rediscovered at the anniversary exhibition in Kristiania and since then there has been an ever-increasing interest in his art and life story.