The long walkway is lined with over 200 life-sized statues by Norway's best loved sculptor, Gustav Vigeland (1869-1943). The walkway is an open showcase of Vigeland's work and it is statistically one of the top tourist attractions in Norway.
The works are granite and bronze. His works include entwined lovers, tranquil elderly couples, bawling babies and what seem to be sea monsters embracing human forms. Vigeland presents the human form in a range of emotions and actions.
This towering obelisk is a monolith (The Monolith) of entwined bodies which we thought of as being something like the Tower of Babel. It is said to be the world's largest granite sculpture. The circle of steps beneath it is lined with voluptuous stone figures.
The Wheel of Life.
For those wanting to see more, there is also the Vigeland Museum, built by the city as a home and workshop for the artist in exchange for the bulk of his life's work and contains his early statues, plaster moulds, woodblock prints and sketches. Vigeland was also responsible for the design and architecture of Frognerparken and the Vigeland installation of sculptures.
He was also the designer of the Nobel Peace Prize medal. Today, the Peace Prize medal is regarded as being artistically superior to the Swedish medal (admittedly I read this at the Norwegian Historical Museum which may be a little biased?)
Wikipedia has this to say about Vigeland's legacy:
Some critics considered Vigeland's sculptures to be expressions of Nazi or fascist aesthetics and he has been compared to Arno Breker (1900-1991) who was a German architect and sculptor who is best known for his public works in Nazi Germany where they were endorsed by the authorities as the antithesis of degenerate art.
Shortly after the German occupation of Norway ended in 1945, the Vigeland installation was considered by some to "reek of Nazi mentality". Vigeland himself was quoted in the newspaper Aftenposten during the German occupation as stating that he was "happy" to accept prominent Nazis in his studio and that "I welcome German soldiers with their excellent discipline to walk around and between my work".
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