| Odd Nerdrum, an artist of Norway, was born in Swiss in 1944. He has been living in Oslo since his parents brought him back to Norway after the World War II. Throughout his art career, he has been observed as a classical artist who has constantly been challenging the modernism art. His oil painting style, obviously a typical classicism style, isstanding out from the modernism art that had been dominating in 20th century's art world. His art career has encountered many difficulties, but he has been insisted in keeping his classical style and skills. He gave up the art practice in modernism and has criticized the dominating style. His oil painting skill, which is developed and improved from previous classicism artists, and his renovating paintings and concepts have concurred the world. That made him one of few great classicism art masters who proudly and highly stand in today's art world.Here, through the study of Odd Nerdrum's oil painting works, the development and progress of his art style throughout his art career have been described and unfolded into two aspects. First, Odd Nerdrum succeeded the style and skills of Italian artists Caravaggio and Rembrandt,and further improved their resistance of being ordinary; second, he sees the world from the angle as a classical philosopher or future teller, he used his realistically painting to reveal much details, and from the direct expression of objects to reveal his abstract concept and understanding of human's spirit, sexual desire, love, lives and death. The theme of his works has always been lonely, desperate, implying and challenging. Based on the publication time of his works, before 1980s, his works were revealing the world directly, had a tendency of criticizing the modernism style, such as the work of "The Arrest". During late 80s, his style changed dramatically. Although the same painting skills were used, his works were abstract. What revealed from his works has been hard to be understood, and more and strong religious color. The theme of his works has changed from the direct reflection of the world to exploring in philosophy of the universe and human natures, e.g. works of "Man Bitten by a Snake" and "Iron Law".The people described in Odd Nerdrum's paintings had dramatic changes. From the expression of group of people to the in depth detail study of just one person, from the expression of a loving couple to the study of phenomenon derived from the exciting of love, from living human to object that has no life but has been given vivid color. His paintings outlined the process of organisms, from birth to grove. Theseare all very well expressed in three paintings, "Sleeping Twins", "Red Brick" and "Dying Couple". In these works, the symmetric design of the paintings created a strong drama atmosphere. It created an obscure and mystery religious world to audience.The society described in Odd Nerdrum's painting, is actually the direct reflection of his own living environment, for example, works of "Father Finding his Son", "The First Birthday" and "Woman Killing Injured Man", etc. They are the reflections of various periods in his life. His works revealed his own life, with rich philosophy color. Obviously, they are influenced by the philosophy theories developed by Kant, Goethe, Sartre and Freud.In his art career, Odd Nerdrum has been attached and laughed by the modernism artists, who were dominating the art world then. They criticized his painting as "Kitsch Art", which is discordance with the current dominating tastes of art. To fight back, Odd Nerdrum borrowed the words of "Kitsch art", declare him as "King Kitsch". He called himself the Rembrandt in today's world, the future teller of painting art. This challenging spirit has been clearly expressed in his paintings of "Prophet of painting" and "Frontal Self Portrait".From the painting works of Odd Nerdrum, obviously, the skills belong to classicism, but the concept is abstract, sadism, and self-loving.Politically, his works are radical. They implied the tendency to origin, but... |
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