ernism. He really is a rebel by temperament and his quarrel with mod-
ernism is genuine and runs deep. Nevertheless, at a number of points in
his career he seems to have milked his opposition to modernism for all
that it was worth in terms of publicity. He has a modernist’s sense of the-
atricality and an unerring feel for how to shock the public when it will
work to his advantage. For example, he used the occasion of a series of
serious exhibitions of his paintings from 1998 to 2000 in Norway to pro-
claim himself publicly the King of Kitsch.^1
As a result of his talent for painting and for self-promotion, Nerdrum
has emerged as a significant figure on the international art scene,
although more in the realm of private galleries than in that of museums.
Between 1994 and 2001 three major monographs on his career have
been published, each more lavishly illustrated than the last.^2 For the past
two decades, there has been a Nerdrum solo exhibition in Europe or
America nearly every year. The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in
Kansas City seems to be the most famous museum that has hosted a
Nerdrum exhibition (1989), but if one includes galleries, his paintings
have been featured in major artistic centers such as New York, Los
Angeles, Paris, London, and Berlin. Although Nerdrum is not yet a fig-
ure for the art history books, let alone art history classes, he is discussed
in several important works on contemporary painting.^3 Nerdrum’s paint-
ings are reported to sell well, especially in New York and Los Angeles.
Sales figures for contemporary paintings are difficult to verify, but one
of the galleries that represents Nerdrum, Martina Hamilton in New York,
states on its web site that his prints sell for about $7000, his charcoal
drawings are in the $25,000–75,000 range, and his paintings in the
$40,000–300,000 range. I have seen an early portrait by Nerdrum (circa
1980) listed on the Internet with an asking price of $45,000, and a paint-
ing entitled ‘The Brick’ quoted at $50,000. An article in the Norwegian
newspaper Aftenposten(8/20/02) discusses a documentary film being
made about Nerdrum by Solveig Kjoek, who wants to find out “why
Nerdrum is popular in the US but often scoffed at home in Norway.” She
says that in New York “collectors pay huge sums for Nerdrum’s paint-
ings” and he “has a near ‘rock-star’ following” (speaking of rock stars,
David Bowie is rumored to be a collector of Nerdrum’s art, and the two
have been photographed together). Beyond his commercial success,
Nerdrum increasingly shows signs of artistic success where it most
counts—among young artists. He has become an underground hero for
figurative painters everywhere, and I have seen evidence of young artists
being influenced by his work, even to the point of their paying homage
to specific Nerdrum paintings.
The Importance of Being Odd 7