Adelsteen Normann (1848-1918) studied painting in Düsseldorf, where he worked with Eugène Dücker from 1869 to 1873. Having befriended his countryman, Edvard Munch, Normann was instrumental in setting up an exhibition of Munch's work in Berlin. He exhibited at the Salon in Paris from 1882, receiving a distinction in 1884, and a bronze medal in 1889 at the Exposition Universelle. An article by G. Cole, probably in connection with a showing of the artist’s work in London in 1892, summarizes the qualities Normann sought to convey: 'There was a certain defiant ruggedness about his style, which lends itself admirably to the themes he chooses. He certainly knows how to paint rocks, sky, and sea, and he combines them so as to actually convey the immensity and infinity of the scenes he painted… we are really made to feel the grandeur and massiveness of the land and fjords’ (G. Cole 1892 vol. 62, Public Opinion). Among his many views of the fjords, his painting, Steamer in the Sognefyord, was sold at Christie's (L50) on 10th February 1995. 
 
The breath-taking landscape depicted, of the longest and deepest fjord in Norway, was one familiar to the Prince and Princess of Wales. In the autumn of 1885, following an annual visit to Denmark, the Prince left to stay with Oscar II of Sweden, from where he explored the fiords of Norway on the RY Osborne (which appears in this painting). ‘The scenery in the fiords quite surpassed my expectations’ he wrote elatedly on the 11 September, but he was more impressed by the sport which his host offered him…. They enjoyed elk hunting before the Prince travelled on to Hungary via Vienna. (Sidney Lee p. 573). A later cruise, in August 1893, prompted the Princess to compile an album of photographs (some her own) and watercolours. They are testament to her skill as a water-colourist and photographer and magnificence of the scenery.