Nikolai Astrup
Visions of Norway
Edited by MaryAnne Stevens; With a prelude by Karl Ove Knausgard, essays by Frances Carey, Jay A. Clarke, Robert Ferguson, and MaryAnne Stevens, and a chronology by Kesia E. Halvorsrud
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Format: HardcoverPrice: $50.00
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A compelling introduction to the life and artistic output of a trailblazing Norwegian painter, printmaker, and horticulturist
Nikolai Astrup (1880–1928) was a highly individual Norwegian Modernist artist known for intensely colored paintings and woodcuts of his native landscape. Astrup received a formal art education in Kristiania (now Oslo), Germany, and Paris, but he later rebelled against certain aspects of his training, such as the traditional conventions of optical perspective. He rejected metropolitan cultural centers in favor of his rural childhood home in western Norway, where he produced a remarkable body of work. This volume brings Astrup’s life and work to a North American audience, situating him within the history and culture of Norway and late 19th- and early 20th-century art. Astrup’s horticultural achievements in the service of his art on the farm where he lived are also explored. The book’s beautiful illustrations highlight the intensity of Astrup’s palette, the innovative nature of his prints, and the magical realism of his landscapes steeped in folklore and local customs.
Nikolai Astrup (1880–1928) was a highly individual Norwegian Modernist artist known for intensely colored paintings and woodcuts of his native landscape. Astrup received a formal art education in Kristiania (now Oslo), Germany, and Paris, but he later rebelled against certain aspects of his training, such as the traditional conventions of optical perspective. He rejected metropolitan cultural centers in favor of his rural childhood home in western Norway, where he produced a remarkable body of work. This volume brings Astrup’s life and work to a North American audience, situating him within the history and culture of Norway and late 19th- and early 20th-century art. Astrup’s horticultural achievements in the service of his art on the farm where he lived are also explored. The book’s beautiful illustrations highlight the intensity of Astrup’s palette, the innovative nature of his prints, and the magical realism of his landscapes steeped in folklore and local customs.
MaryAnne Stevens is a scholar and independent curator.
EXHIBITION SCHEDULE
Clark Art Institute, Williamstown, MA
(June 19–September 19, 2021)
KODE Art Museums and Composer Homes, Bergen
(October 15, 2021–January 23, 2022)
Prince Eugen’s Waldemarsudde, Stockholm
(February 19–May 29, 2022)
(June 19–September 19, 2021)
KODE Art Museums and Composer Homes, Bergen
(October 15, 2021–January 23, 2022)
Prince Eugen’s Waldemarsudde, Stockholm
(February 19–May 29, 2022)
“The catalogue is up to the Clark’s usual standard, which is superlative. Robert Ferguson’s catalogue essay is revelatory in understanding both Norway’s cultural evolution and Astrup as a figure within it. . . . Jay Clarke, once the Clark’s print curator, wrote two great essays on the woodcuts. Karl Ove Knausgard wrote an evocative, stage-setting introductory essay. MaryAnn Stevens’s two essays, as always, are art history at its best.”—Brian T. Allen, National Review
“[The] enchanting Astrup exhibition . . . curated by the independent scholar MaryAnne Stevens, insures that, from now on, Astrup must figure in any comprehensive survey of early-twentieth-century European art. . . . Astrup’s artistry keeps getting stranger—and stronger—as you gaze.”—Peter Schjeldahl, New Yorker
ISBN: 9780300250855
Publication Date: July 27, 2021
Publishing Partner: Distributed for the Clark Art Institute in cooperation with KODE Art Museums and Composer Homes, Bergen, Savings Bank Foundation DNB, and Prince Eugen’s Waldemarsudde
Publication Date: July 27, 2021
Publishing Partner: Distributed for the Clark Art Institute in cooperation with KODE Art Museums and Composer Homes, Bergen, Savings Bank Foundation DNB, and Prince Eugen’s Waldemarsudde
240 pages, 9 x 11
203 color + b/w illus.
203 color + b/w illus.
ADDITIONAL MATERIALS
