Odd Nerdrum is a Norwegian figurative painter who was born in Sweden; his work is held by museums worldwide. Themes and style in Nerdrum's work reference anecdote and narrative. Primary influences by the painters Rembrandt and Caravaggio help place his work in direct conflict with the abstraction and conceptual art considered acceptable in much of Norway. Nerdrum creates six to eight paintings a year. They include still life paintings of small, everyday objects, portraits and self-portraits, and large paintings allegorical and apocalyptic in nature. The figures in Nerdrum's paintings are often dressed as if from another time and place.
Anna Ancher was a Danish artist associated with the Skagen Painters, an artist colony on the northern point of Jylland, Denmark. She is considered to be one of Denmark's greatest visual artists.
Arne Joachim Bendiksen was a Norwegian singer, composer, and producer, described as "the father of pop music" in Norway.
Jan Erik Vold is a Norwegian lyric poet, jazz vocal reciter, translator and author. He was a core member of the so-called "Profil generation", the circle attached to the literary magazine Profil. Throughout his career as an artist, he has had the ability to reach the public, both with his poetry and his political views. He has contributed greatly to the renewal of Norwegian poetry, and created interest in lyrical poetry. Jan Erik Vold is currently living in Stockholm.
David Sandved was a Norwegian architect.
Jan Valentin Sæther was a Norwegian figurative painter, sculptor and gnostic priest. He was professor of figurative painting at the National Academy of the Arts in Oslo between 1996 and 2002.
Kitsch painting is an international movement made up of classical painters, a result of a 24 September 1998 speech and philosophy given by the Norwegian figurative artist, Odd Nerdrum, later clarified in his book On Kitsch with Jan-Ove Tuv and others. The movement incorporates the techniques of the Old Masters with narrative, romanticism, and emotionally charged imagery. The movement defines Kitsch as synonymous with the arts of ancient Rome or the techne of ancient Greece. Kitsch painters embrace kitsch as a positive term not in opposition to "art", but as its own independent superstructure. Kitsch painters assert that Kitsch is not an art movement, but a philosophical movement separate from art. The Kitsch movement has been considered an indirect criticism of the contemporary art world, but according to Nerdrum, this is not the expressed intention.
Alf Cranner was a major Norwegian folk singer, lyricist and painter, considered by many to be the pioneer of the Norwegian folk music wave of the 1960s. The citation for the award of Evert Taube Memorial Fund Grant 1994, to Cranner states: «Det är motiverat att anse honom som sin tids fader för den norska viskonsten». He is known for several popular folk music interpretations and beautiful folk tunes, including these: Å, den som var en løvetann with lyrics by another great Norwegian folk singer and lyricist Alf Prøysen (1914–1970), Bare skrap and Den skamløse gamle damen with lyrics by Klaus Hagerup and Sjømannsvise with the text of Harald Sverdrup. Among Cranner folk songs with his own lyrics is Båt til lyst and Hambo i fellesferien two of the best known. The folk song Din tanke er fri, is Cranner translation of the German Die Gedanken sind frei.
Lars Martin Myhre is a Norwegian composer, guitarist, pianist, singer and producer residing in Sandefjord. He is best known for his collaboration with Odd Børretzen, but has for more than 30 years been involved in the musical life of Norway and has released a dozen albums, participated in or produced albums for other artists and composed film music, musicals and theater music. He has visited a variety of music genres such as jazz, show and classical music.
Kaja Norum is a Norwegian model and figurativist painter. A former student and protégé of painter Odd Nerdrum, Norum is devoted to Nerdrum's philosophy of Kitsch painting, and is a part of The Kitsch Movement spawned by Nerdrum. After the latter relocated to France in 2011, Norum is the primary caretaker of his gallery and his estate.
The Cloud is an oil painting by the Norwegian artist Odd Nerdrum, from 1985. It depicts a nude man in a leather helmet, looking out over a landscape with a compact dark cloud in the sky. It is held in a private collection.
Iron Law is a 1984 painting by the Norwegian artist Odd Nerdrum. It depicts two men in a grey and desolate coastal landscape, as the man to the right—wearing a blindfold—is about to strike the man to the left with a metal rod. In the background, a third man is running away from the scene.
Dawn is an oil on canvas painting by the Norwegian artist Odd Nerdrum, painted in 1989. It is held in a private collection.
The Savior of Painting is a 1997 painting by the Norwegian artist Odd Nerdrum. It is also known as Self-Portrait as the Prophet of Painting. It depicts Nerdrum in a golden robe, standing barefoot under the evening sky, with a paintbrush in his right hand and a palette in his left.
The Murder of Andreas Baader is a 1978 painting by the Norwegian artist Odd Nerdrum. It depicts the speculative murder of Andreas Baader, one of the leaders of the far-left organisation Red Army Faction, in the Stammheim Prison in 1977.
Liberation is a 1974 painting by the Norwegian artist Odd Nerdrum. It depicts a room with a mattress where a couple have sexual intercourse with the woman on top of the passive man.
Woman Kills Injured Man is a 1994 painting by the Norwegian artist Odd Nerdrum. It depicts a man who is assaulted by a woman armed with a knife.
Twilight is a 1981 painting by the Norwegian artist Odd Nerdrum. It depicts a woman defecating in a forest clearing. Nerdrum presented the painting as a "tribute to the natural, the true human being whom we all fear".
Loft is a traditional two-storey wooden building preserved mostly in Norway. A loft was used for storage and sleeping, and is known since the early Middle Ages. Loft buildings dating from around 1200 are preserved in rural areas. Lofts were typically built in log technique, unlike the post and lintel construction in stave churches. Many lofts have an external corridor or balcony resting on a log corbel. The oldest non-religious wooden buildings in Norway are lofts. In addition to the stave church, Christian Norberg-Schulz regards the loft as Norway's most important contribution to history of architecture.
