As Milan and Paris duke it out for the title of king of fashion and Stockholm is inundated with an impressive wave of pop art, the slow but steady rise of the Oslo art scene in Norway goes subtly undetected, but it's a growing force to be reckoned with. Oslo's always had a soft spot for brilliant architecture and wholesome art, but never before has there been a drive like this to put Oslo on the top of the art world.

EVERY NORWEGIAN CHILD has stood in cross-country skis at the bottom of a snowy slope and looked up at his or her father. "So your dad is there at the top of the hill holding a treat and he says, 'Just make it up here, and we'll take a break,' " says Eivind Furnesvik, the owner and director of Standard (Oslo), the most successful art gallery in the country's up-and-coming scene. "That is Norway."

With that same mettle and hope of reward, the players of Oslo's art world have begun a steep climb to join the ranks of global elite art capitals.

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