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Gunnar Bratlie

Norwegian artist (1918-1990)

Correspondence, annotated notebooks and portrait silhouettes prepared for research
People and ideasInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionJul 26, 2026
Entity authorityQ5618955 ↗
Source-derived summary

Gunnar Bratlie (8 October 1918 – 14 June 1990) was a Norwegian illustrator.

He was born in Fredrikstad, and worked in Oslo and Røros before returning to Fredrikstad in 1981. He is known for his book covers and illustrations, such as the complete works of Selma Lagerlöf and Alexandre Dumas, and the local historical work Fredrikstad bys historie. During the occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany he was imprisoned with editor of Norsk Ukeblad Ernst Ancher-Hanssen for a caricature of Vidkun Quisling in Norsk Ukeblad in February 1943 (#8). The caricature portrayed Quisling as an unsteady ice skating boy, who was being helped to stand up by a man with a Hitler moustache. Bratlie was imprisoned in Grini concentration camp from 19 February 1943 to 22 March 1945. He continued to draw while inside, and a collection of these drawings was published in 1945 under the title Skisser i smug, with a preface written by co-prisoner and professor Francis Bull. Bratlie kept his sketches hidden in a hollow leg of a table, and they were smuggled out of the camp from time to time. Several of his sketches were also published in the two-volume book Griniboken.

His main techniques were etching and serigraphy, but he also did paintings and aquarels.

Editorial summary

This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Gunnar Bratlie” as norwegian artist (1918-1990). Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.

Editorial reviewA useful biographical orientation record, particularly for establishing names, roles and a first chronology. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1918, 1990, 1981, 1943—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1918-10-08. The account is most persuasive where Gunnar, Bratlie and Norwegian can be independently traced.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

The subject matters to the people & ideas register because the source frames it as norwegian artist (1918-1990). Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.

Evidence profile

The entry’s evidential value lies in the named roles, institutions and publications that can be tested against primary documentation. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 26, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q5618955. VIAF identifies the subject as 245683163. The Library of Congress control number is n81023951. 3 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1918, 1990, 1981 and 1943.

Critical limits

Later biographies can compress uncertainty and repeat inherited reputations, so apparently settled claims may still require comparison. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Read biographical claims against dates, named institutions and the cited references. Distinguish a subject’s later reputation from evidence produced during their lifetime.

Best used for
  • Establishing names and roles
  • Building a first chronology
  • Locating cited institutions
Verify next

Personal papers, civil or court records, institutional files and the scholarship cited by the source.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Gunnar Bratlie”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Gunnar Bratlie primary sources, Gunnar Bratlie archive and Gunnar research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Gunnar Bratlie”?
  2. How has the subject’s reputation changed across later accounts?
  3. Which primary records establish identity, chronology and institutional ties?
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “Gunnar Bratlie” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.