Odd Nerdrum (1944) - Shining Eyes; 2001

Shining Eyes

oil on canvas
171.5 cms x 184.2 cms (67.5 ins x 72.5 ins)
Signed & dated; titled on gallery label verso
Lot offered for sale by Hodgins, Calgary at the auction event "HODGINS: Spring 2016" held on Mon, May 30, 2016.
Lot 170
Estimate: CAD $40,000 - $50,000
Realised: CAD $65,000

Lot description - from the online catalogue*


Odd Nerdrum

Swedish [b. 1944]

SHINING EYES; 2001

oil on canvas

67.5 x 72.5 in. (171.5 x 184.2 cm)

signed & dated; titled on gallery label verso

Provenance: Estate of Dr. Howard Freeze, Calgary; Forum Gallery, New York/Los Angeles

Note: this painting was chosen to illustrate the 2002 exhibition poster for the Forum Gallery, New York and is accompanied by a signed copy of the book "Odd Nerdrum Paintings" by Jan-Erik Ebbestad Hansen.

In the forward to "Odd Nerdrum - Paintings" American art critic Donald Kuspit writes "Again and again, Odd Nerdrum paints isolated figures - figures ensconced in their isolation, one might say. That is, they accept it as their fate, never questioning it because they know no alternative to it. It is this isolation that has turned them in upon themselves, and twisted them out of emotional shape...Many of Nerdrum's figures simply watch and wait in the void, as though in anticipation of an attack. But where is the enemy? There is no need for one: they have already defeated themselves. Nerdrum's pictures seem to illustrate the existential proverb that we are our own worst enemy".
Most realised prices include the Buyer's Premium of 18-25%, but not the HST/GST Tax.
(*) Text and/or Image might be subject matter of Copyright. Check with Hodgins auction house for permission to use.
Shining Eyes; 2001 by artist Odd Nerdrum