might be his salvation (Boy with Twig[1992]).^51 The situation with ani-
mal life is no better. Unlike the stock characters of pastoral, Nerdrum’s
figures have no flocks of sheep or goats to tend. On one occasion a dog
appears in Nerdrum’s landscape (Pissing Woman[1997–98]), but it is
mostly populated by snakes and serpents. Horses appear only in the
form of skulls or severed heads, evidently remnants of better days (Man
with a Horse’s Head[1993]; Resurrection of a Horse[2000–01]). In
this reduced existence, just to possess a fish seems to be an accom-
plishment, but at the same time a reason to be even more on guard, to
protect one’s property (Man with Catfish[1992]; Woman with Fish
[1994]). Even water appears to be a limited and precious resource in
this desolate and desert land—hence also something to be defended
(The Water Guardians[1985–93]; Five Persons around a Waterhole
[1992]).^52
And many of Nerdrum’s characters do seem capable of defending
themselves, their loved ones, and their property. Some of them appear to
be victims, just like the characters in Nerdrum’s early paintings, but they
no longer seem so passive. Their destiny is harsh, but it now appears to
be in their own hands. They often have a look of grim determination in
their faces, not the look of defeat and despair we see in Nerdrum’s early
characters. Whereas those characters often seem weak, the later figures
seem strong. In particular, many of the men in Nerdrum’s early paintings
seem somewhat effeminate; in his later paintings, even the women proj-
ect a masculine strength. To put the point somewhat fancifully, if his ear-
lier characters met his later characters in a fair fight, there is no question
who would win.^53 Indeed, his earlier characters seem to have forgotten
how to fight, whereas his later characters seem always ready for a fight.
Although many of the later characters are naked or semi-naked, others
wear protective clothing and carry shields. Many are helmeted, and
some even wear armor. The woman with a fish looks like a full-fledged
Wagnerian Valkyrie. Above all, Nerdrum’s figures are armedand pre-
pared for trouble, with knives, spears, and bows and arrows at hand. But
what is most distinctive and odd about the world Nerdrum creates is that
it is filled with guns. Almost all other signs of modern technology are
absent from these paintings; one character is holding a doorknob as if it
were a treasured relic from a vanished world (Woman with a Doorknob
[1990]). But a remarkable number of Nerdrum’s characters have shiny
new rifles slung over their shoulders and are evidently prepared to use
them (for some particularly prominent rifles, see The Memory Hall
[1985]; The Water Guardians[1985–93]; and Three Warriors[2000];
but I count rifles in roughly twenty-five of the paintings in Vine’s book30 Paul A. Cantor