Old Master Existentialism | Recent Paintings by Odd Nerdrum

Foreword by Richard V. West

Essay by Richard V. West

This catalogue was published by the Frye Art Museum in conjunction with its exhibition Old Master Existentialism: Recent Paintings by Odd Nerdrum (February 8–March 30, 1997). This exhibition is based in part on an exhibition organized by the Museum of Contemporary Art, San Diego. This exhibition features sixteen of Nerdrum’s oil paintings on canvas.

Using a virtuoso painting technique that evokes the manner of seventeenth century Dutch and Flemish painters such as Rembrandt or Hieronymus Bosch, Nerdrum illuminates contemporary moral issues and existential dilemmas through depictions of lonely figures in sparse, apocalyptic landscapes. These Hades-like arenas are in fact real: they are the dramatic vistas of Iceland, which the artist visits frequently.

This publication includes a foreword and essay by Richard V. West, exhibition checklist, and illustrations of exhibition artwork along with a selected list of artist’s exhibitions, bibliography and biography.

16 pages, full color illustrations

9 x 9 in.

Softcover, 1997

Catalogues published before 2010 have been in storage and may have small signs of wear and tear.