38 Facts About Odd Nerdrum

Odd Nerdrum was born on 8 April 1944 and is a Norwegian figurative painter.

The figures in Odd Nerdrum's paintings are often dressed as if from another time and place.

Odd Nerdrum's work has largely been met with negative criticism from Norwegian art critics.

Odd Nerdrum was educated at Oslo Waldorf School and later at the Art Academy of Oslo.

Disillusioned with the art form taught at the academy and with modern art in general Odd Nerdrum began to teach himself to paint in a post-modern style with Rembrandt and Caravaggio as influences.

Odd Nerdrum says that his art should be understood as kitsch rather than art as such.

On Kitsch, a manifesto composed by Odd Nerdrum, describes the distinction he makes between kitsch and art.

Odd Nerdrum's philosophy spawned the Kitsch movement among his students and followers, who call themselves kitsch painters rather than artists.

In 1993, Odd Nerdrum discovered that his father was not his biological father; his mother had had a relationship with the architect David Sandved.

Odd Nerdrum grew up as the son of lawyer and airline director Johan Nerdrum and shipowner's daughter Edith Marie Nerdrum.

Odd Nerdrum felt unwanted and abandoned; this feeling would stay with him until he was in his late forties.

At his death, Odd Nerdrum was asked not to attend the funeral.

Odd Nerdrum found out three years later that Johan was not his biological father.

Odd Nerdrum, was in fact, the result of a liaison between David Sandved and Lillemor.

Odd Nerdrum would go on to make paintings about these experiences.

Odd Nerdrum began his formal education in 1951 in Oslo, in the private Oslo Waldorf School.

Odd Nerdrum has been married to fellow painter Turid Spildo since 1995.

Odd Nerdrum began study at the Norwegian National Academy of Fine Arts, but became dissatisfied with the direction of modern art, notably Rauschenberg's work, and began to teach himself how to paint in a Neo-Baroque style, with the guidance of Rembrandt's technique and work as a primary influence.

Odd Nerdrum had seen Rembrandt's painting, The Conspiracy of Claudius Civilis in the National Museum of Fine Arts in Stockholm.

Odd Nerdrum later studied with Joseph Beuys, at the Kunstakademie Dusseldorf.

Vine notes that, Odd Nerdrum's influence was not, as might be expected, given the themes of the work, the ideological Ashcan school movement, although similar in subject matter.

In 1968, Odd Nerdrum had viewed for the first time the works of Caravaggio whose psychologically intense work, use of cross lighting, strongly suggested shadow that implied three dimensionality, and use of the faces of real, everyday people impacted him intensely, and provided one of the major influences for his work of this time period.

Odd Nerdrum would revisit Italy and Caravaggio's work for on-going inspiration for many years.

Odd Nerdrum, according to Vine, later considered the work to be naive in the sense that Rousseau defines the word, in which mankind is seen as innocent and innately good.

In 1981 Odd Nerdrum created a seminal work that would serve to indicate a change in direction from the sentimentalized view of Refugees at Sea to a starker, unadorned view of reality.

The individuals who now populated Odd Nerdrum's paintings were imbued with great quiet and stillness, but as Vine says, additionally were vitally alive, evoking a cosmic oneness that transcended individuality.

In 2011, Odd Nerdrum stated that the technique he used in the 1980s was faulty, "a special mixture of oils and wax in an effort to recreate the style of the old masters" which subsequently melted and disintegrated.

Odd Nerdrum refers to his highly finished, charcoal drawings as "paintings" Often his drawings are large in scale and are works in their own right, as well as being studies for future paintings.

Odd Nerdrum has declared himself to be a kitsch-painter identifying himself with kitsch rather than with the contemporary art world.

In 2011, Odd Nerdrum was convicted in Norway of tax evasion and sentenced to two years in prison.

Odd Nerdrum's defense claimed that a very large amount of money stored in a safe deposit box in Austria was "a safety measure against future claims" for some 36 paintings that Nerdrum had created in the 1980's using an experimental medium which began to melt when exposed to heat.

Odd Nerdrum claimed the case was an attempt at political persecution.

Under Norwegian law, Odd Nerdrum would be forbidden from any painting activity in prison, as prisoners in Norway are not allowed to pursue business activities while incarcerated.

In October 2012, Odd Nerdrum lost a suit filed against the regional tax authority.

The Oslo court ruled that the funds that Odd Nerdrum had set aside in Austria did not constitute a 'loan, security, depot or committed funds' and should have been disclosed as income.

In September 2017 Odd Nerdrum was pardoned by King Harald V of Norway.

Odd Nerdrum's work is held in public collections worldwide including the National Gallery, in Oslo, the Astrup Fearnley Museum of Modern Art, in Oslo, the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, in Washington, DC, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, in New York, the New Orleans Museum of Art, in New Orleans, the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego, in San Diego, and the Walker Art Center, in Minneapolis.

Odd Nerdrum is represented by the Forum Gallery, New York.