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Odd Nerdrum: Themes | 
 enlarge | Authors: Odd Nerdrum, Li Bj0rn
Publisher: Press Publishing
Category: Book
List Price: $85.00
Buy New: $53.55
You Save: $31.45 (37%)
New (24) Used (4) from $53.54
Rating:  7 reviews
Sales Rank: 80568
Media: Hardcover
Pages: 554
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 9.2
Dimensions (in): 12.5 x 11.4 x 1.8
ISBN: 8275472261
Dewey Decimal Number: 759.81
EAN: 9788275472265
ASIN: 8275472261
Publication Date: April 15, 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
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Product Description
Themes is the most comprehensive collection of Odd Nerdrum's works ever published. Its 500 pages are filled with sketches, drawings and studies, along with excellent reproductions of the artist's most important and most recent finished works. A wide selection of close-up details offers the tightest possible view of Nerdrum's brushstrokes, which will be of particular interest to students--those who wish to learn his modern take on the Old Master style just as they would learn from the work of the Old Masters themselves. The selection is the artist's own, divided into 20 chapters devoted to space, nudes, portraits and other topics, and presented chronologically within each chapter to show the development of specific motifs over the course of his career. This structure and the wide range of work present provoke new insights into the central themes in Nerdrum's work, and his treatment of them from first sketches to final canvases. Nerdrum's latest works--more than 40 paintings in all, dating from the last five years--are presented here for the first time. They complete an unprecedented overview of his oeuvre, a must for everyone interested in the how and why behind one of today's most controversial and celebrated painters.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 2 more reviews...
 Extensive but with a couple of flaws June 20, 2007
Brian Asquith
15 out of 15 found this review helpful
This is certainly one hefty tome, 554 pages and weighing in at 9lbs. The book opens with a 16 page story about an journalist "Temp" who has been assigned to a press conference for Odd Nerdrum's latest book. Alas Nerdrum doesn't attend, preferring to allow his art to speak for itself.
Hence "Temp" is pretty much left to his own devices to research the meaning behind Nerdrum's subject matter, imagery, philosophy etc. Much is devoted to Nerdrum turning his back on contemporary art and in-vogue styles, instead preferring the styles of the art greats such as Rembrandt, Sargent, Zorn, Homer, Da Vinci, Titian. Philosophy is touched upon through the teachings of Kant and Goethe.
The story, written by Bjorn Li, provides some very interesting perception in to the world of Nerdrum and his devotion to kitsch.
The remaining 520+ pages of the book are devoted to Nerdrum's art. Li's story might give some insight in to various pieces but ultimately there is still plenty of room for the viewer to provide their own interpretation. Human's wandering barren landscapes, solitary worlds even though they are not alone, amputations, lost limbs are commonplace. An over-riding theme presents itself...nothing is perfect...not humanity, the world in which we live whether it be the philosophical or the physical. Existence is simply bleak, filled with anxiety and unknown.
All of Nerdrums major works are here, in many cases accompanied with detail images, preparatory sketches, notes etc. Paintings are grouped by "Themes" - hence the title which such groupings as "Lack of Light", "Mother and Child", "Loving Couples", "Song and Dance" etc. etc.
The book is a huge addition to any Nerdrum library both physically and contentwise. However it is slightly flawed by the quality of the reproductions. For the most part the images are excellent, colour captured well, discernible brushstrokes (which for me is a huge part of the attraction with both Nerdrum and Rembrandt - their use of impasto). Unfortunately there are a few photos that appear to be slightly out of focus with the resulting blur. Not too many but enough to cause some disppointment.
I've had this book on order since its originally anticipated publication date of late 2006. It is very well priced at approx $55 with extensive colour images. A worthy addition to any Nerdrum library, and certainly lends itself to extensive browsing. If all the images were top notch then I'd give it 5+ stars, however my enthusiasm for it is tempered slightly by some blurred images. Recommended all the same for what it does contain and at such a good price.
Iconoclast January 3, 2007
Murad (St.louis MO , USA)
8 out of 23 found this review helpful
ODD NERDRUM is without a doubt the world`s greatest living artist . He is definitely an iconoclast. Totally original and unique with MONSTER technical ability . In terms of his place in art history I place him right below CARAVAGGIO and right next to REMBRANDT .There are quite a few art schools in america who base their entire curriculum on the REMBRANDT model and ODD NERDRUM is the highest exemplifier of that . He is totally respected and idolized here
 Dissappointing March 15, 2008
Lee Bordon Smith (Georgia, US)
5 out of 6 found this review helpful
Warning: If you already have the 2001 book by Richard Vine on Odd Nerdrum this book will mostly just be redundant. And if you don't have either i would recommend getting the 2001 book first, and only .
I was highly disappointed when i finally got the chance to look through this book. I was expecting a collection of new and never before seen paintings but instead found that it was mostly just full of paintings shown in the Richard Vine book, and the reproductions are far inferior and include far fewer closeups. The main disappointment was that it contained only a handful of new or recent paintings, though it did contain some old paintings that i hadn't seen before. It also contains fewer drawings than the previous book. It also misleadingly lists 'Sculptures' in the title when only containing 3 or 4 tiny sculptures of faces and cacoon-like babies.
One good thing about this book however is that it includes a lot of thumbnails and quick sketches of ideas for his paintings, giving an insight into his working process.
This is not a bad book, just a little disappointing and not as good as it should have been. And again, if you have the 2001 book, you won't find much new here.
Wonderful! July 8, 2007
Thomas De Vita (Pembroke Pines, Florida)
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
This book is definitely for those who not only love Odd Nerdrum's paintings but are interested in seeing the brushstrokes that create his magnificent creations.
The whole book is photos with many detail shots. This is a must see book for the modern painter.
bold, heavy and beautiful August 31, 2007
R. Pereira
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
Ok, so now there are two great huge books on Nerdrum. One by Richard Vine and now this one. If you are a Nerdrum freak you might as well buy both, but if you have to choose one, here's the facts. The 'Themes' book has more paintings than Vine's book as there are about 100 pages more in it. And though both books have good close ups, 'Themes' has more and better details for those artist who wish to torture themselves drooling over Nerdrum brushwork. However, Vine's book has the better quality reproductions. The color has more lustre, and the colors in 'Themes" seems just a bit too dark at times, plus a couple of the close ups are slightly out of focus. Both books are great in that they consist almost entirely of pictures only. But though the article by Richard Vine is insightful and informative, the article in 'Themes' sucks, being a kind of attempt at lashing back at the narrow critics who have been biting at Nerdrums heels since the day he invited them to do so. I don't see why Nerdrum, given that he is the greatest painter of today and possibly equal to any of the past, should give a damn about their existence.
So pick your choice and celebrate the fact that modern art is dying, while true painting lives on.
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