Portrait of Trygve Lie
This Gift is a portrait of the first United Nations Secretary-General Trygve Lie (1896 – 1968) and was painted by the Norwegian artist Harald Dal (1902 – 1972). As one of the few painters of his generation to devote himself to portraiture, Dal developed a rigorous geometric structure of composition. The angular style in which the subject is painted grants it a firmness and unique character.
The painting was commissioned by ten friends of Lie to commemorate his service to the United Nations as the first Secretary-General who served from 1946 to 1952.
The United Nations came into being on 24 October 1945 and soon selected Trygve Lie to serve as the first Secretary-General in 1946. Lie was the first international office holder called upon to exercise the unparalleled political prerogative and conferred powers under Article 99 of the United Nations Charter.