Saturday, October 18, 2008

Three Men at Dawn, by Odd Nerdrum (1996)

Odd Nerdrum is... "odd." He is a rare contemporary artist in that he holds to an old masters approach to painting, in the tradition of Rembrandt, yet many find his images to be disturbing in their subject matter (the one below is tame by comparison to his other works). He is a storyteller, often depicting individuals involved in strange narratives in post-apocalyptic settings.

www.nerdrum.com

Three Men at Dawn, by Odd Nerdrum (1996)
Oil on Canvas - 61" x 73.2"

2 comments:

Unknown said...

I would like to know what you get from this piece.

tim said...

Well, I don't really look at paintings with the goal of "getting" something from them.

However, I've read a bit on Nerdrum's work. He is intentionally interested in disturbing his viewers. His characters of often involved in futile actions, and have the look of dapravity. Their environments are bleak and oppressive. He talks about how the flesh is a dangerous place for the soul. He can be pretty dark - one of his quotes: "Life floats on the black ocean of death - alone."

Nerdrum can be one of those painters that people don't like at first... but then after spending time with a larger body of his work... begin to respect what he's doing.