He had to use subterfuge to ensure his own rehabilitation; when pretending to be the same as everyone else, commensurate with others, then the poor so-and-so had to use standards of his own, and persuade himself of the truth of them. And this was perhaps responsible for the small amount of happiness he knew, for he knew of no other. Art, the whole thing? Art, the whole thing. But not a bad piece of work. (The Women at the Pump, 1920)
Artists make an appearance in several of Hamsun’s novels, including writers (Hunger and Victoria), musicians (Mysteries and Segelfoss Town), painters (The Women at the Pump) or actors (In the Grip of Life).
The plot of Shallow Soil (1893) involves a group of artists, but the descriptions of writers, actors and painters are not at all flattering. The role of the artist is treated more metaphorically in the description of Oliver in The Women at the Pump, a character who bases his existence on lies and deceit. In the August trilogy, August is a sort of artist-type, with his creativity and his love of storytelling. Hamsun was not personally interested in the notion of himself as an artist.
After purchasing the farm Nørholm he preferred to be addressed as "Farmer Knut Hamsun" rather than "Author".
