The Heritage Collection — Rolf Garman Reinert-Larsen

Rolf Garman Reinert-Larsen (1901–1998) was a Norwegian engineer and artist whose extraordinary ink drawings capture the elegance and optimism of 1920s Oslo. Drawn with the precision of a master draftsman, these works display extraordinary crosshatching and stippling technique, the hallmark of Art Deco draftsmanship at its finest.

In 1926, at just 25 years of age, Rolf drew The Automobile and Lady by the Sea in Oslo — two Art Deco masterpieces brimming with the optimism and elegance of the roaring twenties. Some were later reproduced on a Gestetner duplicating machine, the cutting-edge printing technology of the era — a fitting detail for an engineer who moved between the worlds of structure and beauty with equal grace.

He also drew Trondheim Domkirke / Nidaros Cathedral  that same year— signed November 10, 1926. The northernmost medieval cathedral in the world and the coronation church of Norwegian kings, rendered by a young man reaching for something ancient and unshakeable in a world still finding its footing after the First World War. The emotional weight of this piece is profound.

Rolf later changed his surname from Reinert-Larsen to Tribler — and so his daughter became Isabel Tribler, painter, and his granddaughter became Désirée Paus Sterling, fine artist. The initials “R-L” on the 1926 drawings are the signature of a name that no longer exists — preserved here, a century later, in ink.

Three generations of artists. One family. One story.