Introduction
- The Culture of Hope: A New Birth of the Classical Spirit (New York: The Free
Press, 1995), 1. - Ibid., 3.
- Ibid., 267.
- The Importance of Being Odd: Nerdrum’s
Challenge to Modernism
Since this essay was originally written in 2003, there have been a number of sig-
nificant developments in Odd Nerdrum’s life and career that have only deepened
the controversies surrounding him. It would take another essay to deal ade-
quately with these new issues. In particular, in recent years, Nerdrum’s quarrel
with the modern state has taken a serious and ugly turn, resulting in his being
sentenced by Norwegian authorities to jail for tax evasion. With his appeals still
pending and the facts of the case in dispute. I do not feel in a position to com-
ment on the legal aspects of this case. - For an account of these events, see Richard Vine, Odd Nerdrum: Paintings,
Sketches, and Drawings, Oslo: Gyldendal Norsk Forlag, 2001, 78. - In addition to the Vine book cited above, see Jan-Erik Ebbestad Hansen, Odd
Nerdrum: Paintings, Oslo: Aschehoug, 1994, and Jan Åke Pettersson, Odd Nerdrum:
Storyteller and Self-Revealer, Oslo: Aschehoug, 1998. - See, for example, Charles Jencks, Postmodernism: The New Classicism in Art
and Architecture, New York: Rizzoli, 1987, 42; Edward Lucie-Smith, Art Today,
London: Phaidon Press, 1995, 194, 196; and Edward Lucie-Smith, Art Tomorrow, Paris:
Editions Pierre Terrail, 2002, 152. For a perceptive appreciation of Nerdrum by a promi-
nent art critic, see Roger Kimball, Art’s Prospect: The Challenge of Tradition in an Age
of Celebrity, Christchurch: Cybereditions, 2002, 201–03. - Since websites have an annoying habit of changing their addresses, I will not
bother to list any of the Nerdrum sites. Anyone wishing to see what his paintings look
like need only google “Odd Nerdrum,” and will quickly find many images available.
Notes
195