Portrait of Elisabeth Hausmann

Adolph Tidemand's 1874 portrait of Elisabeth Hausmann is a characteristic example of his work as a portraitist alongside his better-known national-romantic images of Norwegian peasant life. Tidemand was the preeminent Norwegian painter of his generation before the arrival of the naturalist generation of the 1880s, and his portraits of prominent Norwegians served the same nation-building function as his peasant subjects — establishing a visual record of a distinct national society. The National Museum in Oslo holds this portrait as part of its comprehensive collection of Tidemand's work.

Tidemand renders Elisabeth Hausmann with the careful, controlled technique of his academic training — patient modeling of the face, descriptive rendering of costume and accessories, and a formal dignity appropriate to the portrait function.