Catharine Hermine Kølle

Catharine Hermine Kølle (1788-1859) was a Norwegian traveller, writer and painter, known mainly for her travel journals and for a large body of watercolours documenting places she reached on foot and others she never visited. Born at Snarøya in the parish of Bærum, in Akershus, she was one of three daughters of Christian Kølle and Elisabeth Monrad. Her father, a language teacher and theologian, moved the family to Kopervik on the island of Karmøy in 1803, and in 1807 they settled at Holmen in Ulvik, in the Hardanger district, which became her permanent home.

She received the education customary for young women from professional families and later taught German and French, along with some Latin and Italian, at a small school founded by her father. The family relied largely on fruit growing and farming.

Between 1826 and 1858 she made at least fifteen long journeys, both within Norway and abroad. She twice travelled on foot to Italy, visiting Venice in 1841 and Genoa in 1858. Her journals, totalling over 400 pages, are held at the library of the University Museum of Bergen, and they provide documentary detail about the places she visited.

She painted at least 251 watercolours, of which over 200 are also kept in Bergen. Her subjects go beyond her own journeys: she illustrated travel accounts of destinations she could not reach, including North America, Guinea, Istanbul, Sri Lanka and Jakarta, and she also painted biblical and mythological scenes. Her style uses bright, bold colour and has a naive quality, combined with careful description of topography and architecture.