Odd Nerdrum (Norwegian painter, 1944)

Odd Nerdrum is a Norwegian figurative painter, born in Sweden, and considered to be one of the greatest living figurative painters. His work is held by museums worldwide. Themes and style in Nerdrum's work reference anecdote and narrative.

Rembrandt and Caravaggio were primary influences on Nerdrum's work, while secondary influences include Masaccio, Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Titian and the less obvious influences, according to Vine and either mentioned by Nerdrum himself or other critics, that include Brueghel, Goya, Chardin, Millet, as well the even less apparent Henry Fuseli, Caspar David Friedrich, Ferdinand Hodler, Edvard Munch, Käthe Kollwitz, Salvador Dalí, Chaim Soutine and Lars Hertervig.

Nerdrum creates six to eight paintings per year. These include Still life paintings of small everyday objects like bricks, portraits and self portraits whose subjects are dressed as if from some other time and place, and large paintings, allegorical in nature that present a sense of the apocalyptic and again reference another time.

Nerdrum says that his art should be understood as kitsch rather than art as such. "On Kitsch", a manifesto composed by Nerdrum describes the distinction he makes between kitsch and art. Nerdrum's philosophy has spawned The Kitsch Movement among his students and followers, who call themselves kitsch painters as opposed to artists.

Odd Nerdrum (Helsingborg, 8 aprile 1944) è un pittore Norvegese.

Nerdrum nacque a Helsingborg, in Svezia, da combattenti della resistenza che erano fuggiti dalla Norvegia occupata dai tedeschi durante la seconda guerra mondiale. Alla fine della guerra Nerdrum tornò in Norvegia con i suoi genitori. Nel 1950 i genitori di Nerdrum divorziarono, lasciando alla madre il compito di crescere Nerdrum e suo fratello minore.

Nerdrum fu educato in una scuola di Rudolf Steiner e successivamente presso l'Accademia d'arte di Oslo. Insoddisfatto dalla forma d'arte insegnata all'Accademia e dall'arte moderna in generale, Nerdrum iniziò a insegnarsi a dipingere in uno stile post moderno con Rembrandt e Caravaggio come influenze.

Nel 1965, iniziò uno studio di diversi mesi con l'artista tedesco Joseph Beuys.