Rare Old Pictorial Map of Oslo, Norway by Liozu, 1952: Akershus Fortress, Royal Palace, Holmenkollen, Frogner Park, Oslofjord
Restored in our London workshop from the original 1952 map and printed to museum-grade archival standards. Full description
The Collector’s Offer
Choose two eligible works and receive 20% off both. Choose three and the lowest-priced one is complimentary, a maximum saving of 33%.
Mix and match eligible standard maps and fine-art prints. No code is required; the offer is applied automatically at checkout.
Standard made-to-order configurations are included. Bespoke sizes, personalised designs and commissioned work are excluded.
Need delivery to different addresses? Contact us before ordering.The Collector’s Offer
Choose two eligible works and receive 20% off both. Choose three and the lowest-priced one is complimentary, a maximum saving of 33%.
Mix and match eligible standard maps and fine-art prints. No code is required; the offer is applied automatically at checkout.
Standard made-to-order configurations are included. Bespoke sizes, personalised designs and commissioned work are excluded.
Need delivery to different addresses? Contact us before ordering.
Restored in London • Printed and framed in the USA
Restored from the original 1952 map and printed to museum-grade archival standards. Full description
Choose your size
Choose your finish
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Gift message & custom finish
If you want to add a gift message, or a finish (jigsaw, aluminium board, etc.) that is not available here, please request it in the "order note" when you check out.
Every order is custom made, so if you need the size adjusted slightly, or printed on an unusual material, just let us know. We've done thousands of custom orders over the years, so there's (almost) nothing we can't manage.
You can also contact us before you order, if you prefer!
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Surroundings of Oslo is Jacques Liozu’s 1952 celebration of Norway’s capital and its orbiting landscapes, rendered as a lively bird’s-eye view studded...
Continue readingSurroundings of Oslo is Jacques Liozu’s 1952 celebration of Norway’s capital and its orbiting landscapes, rendered as a lively bird’s-eye view studded with vignettes and crisp labels. In a single glance, the map invites you to read the city not as an isolated plan of streets, but as a living hub linked to fjord, forest, and fertile plain—precisely why it stands out among city maps. Liozu’s hand imparts mid-century optimism: an ornate cartouche anchors the composition, a decorative compass rose sets the course, and colorful scenes of work and leisure animate every corner. The result captures the post-war appetite for travel and regional identity, framing Oslo’s metropolitan character within a broader, story-rich geography.
Within the capital, Liozu cues the viewer with unmistakable landmarks. Akershus Fortress guards the harbor while Karl Johans gate sweeps toward the Royal Palace, their relationship sketched with theatrical clarity. Frogner Park, alive with hints of Vigeland’s sculptures, balances the city’s stone and water with sculpted greenery. Up on the ridge, Holmenkollen’s ski jump signals Oslo’s winter soul, a beacon for sport as well as a compass for orientation. Bygdøy’s museum world—evocations of Viking ships and polar exploration—pokes from the peninsular greenery, while the industrious thread of the Akerselva stitches mills and workshops down to bustling quays. Even neighborhoods—Gamlebyen, Grünerløkka, Frogner—emerge in characterful scenes, each a miniature portrait of everyday life.
Beyond the core, the map fans out to a ring of towns that together define Oslo’s economic and cultural hinterland. Drammen sits squarely on its river, its timber and paper traditions signaled by logs and chimneys; Moss and Horten echo with shipyards and naval heritage; Sandefjord and Tønsberg ride the fjord’s maritime legacy. South along the Glomma, Sarpsborg and Fredrikstad teem with mills and docks, while Halden’s fortress crowns the border hills. Inland icons nod to Kongsberg’s silver and Kongsvinger’s bastion, to Modum’s cobalt-blue memory and Ringerike’s grain. In Ås and Vestby, sheaves and plows celebrate an agrarian belt that still feeds the capital, as Lillestrøm and Rælingen nestle by Øyeren’s reed-edged waters—each place identified through lively symbols that double as lessons in regional economy.
Water, forest, and topography are the stage on which these stories play. The Oslofjord, pricked with skerries and sails, reads as a highway of trade and recreation, tying harbor to archipelago. The Glomma carves a broad corridor from Kongsvinger past Sarpsborg to Fredrikstad, its bridges and barges narrating movement and industry; the Drammenselva grounds a parallel tale to the west. Lakes—Øyeren near Lillestrøm, Tyrifjorden on the Ringerike plain—are pictured as gleaming mirrors for fishing, rowing, and summer cabins. North and west, the dark greens of Nordmarka and the Holmenkollen-Voksenkollen ridge promise skiing, hiking, and forest work. Liozu’s skiers, sailors, and picnickers are more than decoration: they are wayfinding devices that reveal how Oslo’s citizens inhabit their landscape.
Liozu, celebrated for mid-century pictorial maps that fuse artistry with lucid geography, brings a theater-director’s sense of staging to this composition. His concise labels and witty vignettes deliver a high-density briefing without crowding the eye, turning industries into intelligible emblems and neighborhoods into instantly legible scenes. The ornate cartouche and poised compass rose are not mere ornament but signals of confidence in a region remaking itself after the war—open to visitors, proud of craft, and anchored in place. As a city map, it is notable for tracing the capital’s true footprint: a metropolitan field extending across fjord, river valleys, and farms. The effect is both practical and poetic, an invitation to explore and to understand.
Streets and roads on this map
- Aasgardsstrand
- Drammen
- Horten
- Holmenkollen
- Lillestrøm
- Lillehammer
- Moss
- Oslow
- Sandefjord
- Skarnes
- Ski
- Solør
- Sørumsand
- Tonsberg
- Ås
- Aasgaardstrand
- Arvik
- Drobak
- Fredrikstad
- Halden
- Honefoss
- Kongsberg
- Kongsvinger
- Lörenskog
- Modum
- Rælingen
- Ringerike
- Sarpsborg
- Skagbær
- Vestby
Notable Features & Landmarks
- Numerous illustrated landmarks, including buildings and natural features
- Illustrations of leisure activities, such as skiing and sailing
- Iconic representations of local industries
- Scenic depictions of lakes and coastal areas
- Decorative compass rose in the corner
Historical and design context
- Created in 1952 during the post-war era of growing regional identity and tourism
- Mapmaker: Jacques Liozu, noted for mid-century pictorial maps blending artistic style with clear cartographic information
- Decorative mid-20th-century pictorial style with distinct hand-drawn illustrations, colorful palette, and an ornate cartouche
- Pictorial bird’s-eye composition with engaging illustrations and concise labels highlighting local industries, agriculture, leisure activities, and notable landmarks
Looking for a particular place? Review the detailed images to confirm that the town, landmark or feature you have in mind appears on the map. If you are unsure, ask our workshop to check before you order.
Detailed maps are especially rewarding at larger sizes, where names, boundaries and decorative features have more room to be appreciated. Use the close-up preview and size guide to choose the right scale for your wall.
This map looks amazing at sizes all the way up to 70in (180cm). If you are looking for a larger map, please get in touch.
The model in the listing images is holding the 18x24in (45x60cm) version of this map.
Where personalisation is available, you can add a short title or dedication, mark one meaningful place, or request one considered visual detail. See personalised map examples.
Every piece is printed to museum-grade archival standards using fade-resistant pigment inks on acid-free matte paper. Choose an unframed map print, framed map or canvas using the finish options above. Framed maps use crystal-clear optical acrylic and arrive ready to hang.
With its rich detail and strong sense of place, this map makes a considered gift for a new home, anniversary, retirement or anyone with a personal connection to the area shown. Still deciding? Explore our collection of rare old and vintage maps to discover another place, period or style.
This map is also available as a float framed canvas, sometimes known as a shadow gap framed canvas or canvas floater. The map is printed on artist's cotton canvas and then stretched over a handmade box frame. We then "float" the canvas inside a wooden frame, which is available in a range of colours (black, dark brown, oak, antique gold and white). This is a wonderful way to present a map without glazing in front. See some examples of float framed canvas maps and explore the differences between my different finishes.
For something truly unique, this map is also available in "Unique 3D", our trademarked process that dramatically transforms the map so that it has a wonderful sense of depth. We combine the original map with detailed topography and elevation data, so that mountains and the terrain really "pop". For more info and examples of 3D maps, check my Unique 3D page.
Surroundings of Oslo is Jacques Liozu’s 1952 celebration of Norway’s capital and its orbiting landscapes, rendered as a lively bird’s-eye view studded with vignettes and crisp labels. In a single glance, the map invites you to read the city not as an isolated plan of streets, but as a living hub linked to fjord, forest, and fertile plain—precisely why it stands out among city maps. Liozu’s hand imparts mid-century optimism: an ornate cartouche anchors the composition, a decorative compass rose sets the course, and colorful scenes of work and leisure animate every corner. The result captures the post-war appetite for travel and regional identity, framing Oslo’s metropolitan character within a broader, story-rich geography.
Within the capital, Liozu cues the viewer with unmistakable landmarks. Akershus Fortress guards the harbor while Karl Johans gate sweeps toward the Royal Palace, their relationship sketched with theatrical clarity. Frogner Park, alive with hints of Vigeland’s sculptures, balances the city’s stone and water with sculpted greenery. Up on the ridge, Holmenkollen’s ski jump signals Oslo’s winter soul, a beacon for sport as well as a compass for orientation. Bygdøy’s museum world—evocations of Viking ships and polar exploration—pokes from the peninsular greenery, while the industrious thread of the Akerselva stitches mills and workshops down to bustling quays. Even neighborhoods—Gamlebyen, Grünerløkka, Frogner—emerge in characterful scenes, each a miniature portrait of everyday life.
Beyond the core, the map fans out to a ring of towns that together define Oslo’s economic and cultural hinterland. Drammen sits squarely on its river, its timber and paper traditions signaled by logs and chimneys; Moss and Horten echo with shipyards and naval heritage; Sandefjord and Tønsberg ride the fjord’s maritime legacy. South along the Glomma, Sarpsborg and Fredrikstad teem with mills and docks, while Halden’s fortress crowns the border hills. Inland icons nod to Kongsberg’s silver and Kongsvinger’s bastion, to Modum’s cobalt-blue memory and Ringerike’s grain. In Ås and Vestby, sheaves and plows celebrate an agrarian belt that still feeds the capital, as Lillestrøm and Rælingen nestle by Øyeren’s reed-edged waters—each place identified through lively symbols that double as lessons in regional economy.
Water, forest, and topography are the stage on which these stories play. The Oslofjord, pricked with skerries and sails, reads as a highway of trade and recreation, tying harbor to archipelago. The Glomma carves a broad corridor from Kongsvinger past Sarpsborg to Fredrikstad, its bridges and barges narrating movement and industry; the Drammenselva grounds a parallel tale to the west. Lakes—Øyeren near Lillestrøm, Tyrifjorden on the Ringerike plain—are pictured as gleaming mirrors for fishing, rowing, and summer cabins. North and west, the dark greens of Nordmarka and the Holmenkollen-Voksenkollen ridge promise skiing, hiking, and forest work. Liozu’s skiers, sailors, and picnickers are more than decoration: they are wayfinding devices that reveal how Oslo’s citizens inhabit their landscape.
Liozu, celebrated for mid-century pictorial maps that fuse artistry with lucid geography, brings a theater-director’s sense of staging to this composition. His concise labels and witty vignettes deliver a high-density briefing without crowding the eye, turning industries into intelligible emblems and neighborhoods into instantly legible scenes. The ornate cartouche and poised compass rose are not mere ornament but signals of confidence in a region remaking itself after the war—open to visitors, proud of craft, and anchored in place. As a city map, it is notable for tracing the capital’s true footprint: a metropolitan field extending across fjord, river valleys, and farms. The effect is both practical and poetic, an invitation to explore and to understand.
Streets and roads on this map
- Aasgardsstrand
- Drammen
- Horten
- Holmenkollen
- Lillestrøm
- Lillehammer
- Moss
- Oslow
- Sandefjord
- Skarnes
- Ski
- Solør
- Sørumsand
- Tonsberg
- Ås
- Aasgaardstrand
- Arvik
- Drobak
- Fredrikstad
- Halden
- Honefoss
- Kongsberg
- Kongsvinger
- Lörenskog
- Modum
- Rælingen
- Ringerike
- Sarpsborg
- Skagbær
- Vestby
Notable Features & Landmarks
- Numerous illustrated landmarks, including buildings and natural features
- Illustrations of leisure activities, such as skiing and sailing
- Iconic representations of local industries
- Scenic depictions of lakes and coastal areas
- Decorative compass rose in the corner
Historical and design context
- Created in 1952 during the post-war era of growing regional identity and tourism
- Mapmaker: Jacques Liozu, noted for mid-century pictorial maps blending artistic style with clear cartographic information
- Decorative mid-20th-century pictorial style with distinct hand-drawn illustrations, colorful palette, and an ornate cartouche
- Pictorial bird’s-eye composition with engaging illustrations and concise labels highlighting local industries, agriculture, leisure activities, and notable landmarks
Looking for a particular place? Review the detailed images to confirm that the town, landmark or feature you have in mind appears on the map. If you are unsure, ask our workshop to check before you order.
Detailed maps are especially rewarding at larger sizes, where names, boundaries and decorative features have more room to be appreciated. Use the close-up preview and size guide to choose the right scale for your wall.
This map looks amazing at sizes all the way up to 70in (180cm). If you are looking for a larger map, please get in touch.
The model in the listing images is holding the 18x24in (45x60cm) version of this map.
Where personalisation is available, you can add a short title or dedication, mark one meaningful place, or request one considered visual detail. See personalised map examples.
Every piece is printed to museum-grade archival standards using fade-resistant pigment inks on acid-free matte paper. Choose an unframed map print, framed map or canvas using the finish options above. Framed maps use crystal-clear optical acrylic and arrive ready to hang.
With its rich detail and strong sense of place, this map makes a considered gift for a new home, anniversary, retirement or anyone with a personal connection to the area shown. Still deciding? Explore our collection of rare old and vintage maps to discover another place, period or style.
This map is also available as a float framed canvas, sometimes known as a shadow gap framed canvas or canvas floater. The map is printed on artist's cotton canvas and then stretched over a handmade box frame. We then "float" the canvas inside a wooden frame, which is available in a range of colours (black, dark brown, oak, antique gold and white). This is a wonderful way to present a map without glazing in front. See some examples of float framed canvas maps and explore the differences between my different finishes.
For something truly unique, this map is also available in "Unique 3D", our trademarked process that dramatically transforms the map so that it has a wonderful sense of depth. We combine the original map with detailed topography and elevation data, so that mountains and the terrain really "pop". For more info and examples of 3D maps, check my Unique 3D page.
Many of our maps and art prints are chosen as thoughtful gifts for homes, offices, studies and meaningful places.
Choose a framed option for the easiest ready-to-hang gift, or choose an unframed print if the recipient may prefer to select their own frame.
We make orders locally in 24 countries around the world, so gifts can often be produced close to the recipient. This helps them arrive faster, travel more safely, and avoid customs or import duty surprises.
- We can deliver directly to the recipient
- Framed pieces arrive ready to hang
- Unframed prints are carefully packed in a strong protective tube
- Almost every order is made locally, for faster, safer gifting
- 90-day returns give the recipient time to decide
If you are not sure what to choose, please contact us. We can help you pick the right map, size, finish or delivery option.
Most orders are made locally and delivered in around 2–3 working days, depending on the product, size and destination.
We print and frame maps and artwork in 24 countries around the world, so your order is usually made close to you or your recipient. That means faster delivery, less time in transit, and no customs or import duty surprises.
Personalised and customised pieces usually take an extra 1–2 working days, because we prepare your design and send it to you for approval before printing.
Very large framed orders can take a little longer, as they need extra care in production and delivery.
Every order is carefully packaged: unframed prints are sent in a strong protective tube, while framed pieces are securely packed with protective materials around the frame.
If you need your order by a particular date, please contact us before ordering. We’ll check the best production route and delivery option for your location.
Express delivery is available at checkout for most countries. Next-day delivery is available in the UK, US, Singapore and the UAE.
Your order is covered by our 90-day returns policy and 10-year guarantee.
Our standard frame is a gallery-style black ash hardwood frame, with a simple, modern look. It is approximately 20mm (0.8in) wide. You can also view some lovely customer photos of framed maps and art.
We use super-clear acrylic glazing, also known as Perspex or Acrylite, instead of traditional glass. It is lighter, safer, and has lower reflectivity, giving the artwork a clearer, cleaner appearance.
Six standard frame colours are available at no extra cost: black, dark brown, dark grey, oak, white, and antique gold. Custom framing and mounting/matting is also available for customers looking for something more specific.
Most maps, art prints, and illustrations are also available as a framed canvas. We use matte cotton canvas, stretch it over a sustainably sourced wooden box frame, and then float the piece within a wooden outer frame. The finished result is beautifully presented, with no glazing between you and the artwork.
All frames are supplied ready to hang, with either string or brackets fitted to the back. Very large frames will include heavy-duty hanging plates and/or a mounting baton. If you have any questions, please get in touch.
We can also supply old maps and artwork on canvas, foam board, cotton rag, and other materials.
If you would prefer to frame your map or artwork yourself, please read our size guide before ordering.
We work with interior designers, hospitality businesses, property professionals, offices and corporate buyers on individual pieces and larger coordinated projects.
This map can be adapted for a particular wall, room or project, and our workshop can help coordinate the dimensions, material and framing before production.
- Exact, oversized and made-to-measure dimensions
- Custom framing, mounting and alternative materials
- Coordinated pieces for several rooms or locations
- Map personalisation, to mark important locations or add extra details
- Map and framing guidance from our workshop
- Local production for projects around the world
Every Unique Maps piece begins with an authentic cartographic source or an original design from our London studio.
For our historic maps, we source rare originals from libraries, archives, auction houses and private collections around the world. We carefully restore each map for print—repairing age-related damage, balancing colour and improving clarity while preserving its original detail, texture and character.
Once restored, the map is prepared for your chosen size and finish. Your piece is then printed and, where selected, framed close to its delivery destination.
Our map prints use acid-free 200gsm archival matte paper and fade-resistant pigment inks, creating a rich, non-glossy finish designed to last. Framed maps use crystal-clear optical acrylic and arrive ready to hang.
Canvas, cotton-rag and other specialist presentations are also available. Learn more about our materials and finishes.
Personalising your map
You can add a short title or dedication, mark one meaningful place, or request one considered visual detail. For personalised designs, we send a proof before printing and you can request changes before approval.
For more complex bespoke commissions, contact our design team.
Original or Aged
Choose Original for true-to-source colour, or Aged for a warmer, richer antique character created with our specialist ageing process. See examples of our Aged maps.
We’ve been restoring and producing maps and art prints since 1984, and we stand behind every piece.
Every order is covered by our 10-year guarantee and damage-free delivery guarantee. If your piece arrives damaged, we’ll replace or remake it free of charge. If anything else isn’t right, contact our workshop team and we’ll put it right promptly.
See our returns and refund policy for full details.
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