Who and what do you like in art?

Who are some of your favorite artists? Why do you like them? Are there any styles, movements, or periods of art that you especially like?

I will start this off by mentioning the style or movement known as "New Old Masterism". This term was coined by art critic/hisorian Donald Kuspit. The artists within this category create paintings that utilize the painting techniques of the "old masters" (Leonardo, Michelangelo, Raphael, Caravaggio, Rembrandt, etc.), but their subject matter is typically very different-- often somewhat strange or bizarre. Although this work typically does not really look like what most people would think of when using the term "postmodern" (typically conceptual/minimalist art etc.), it is, in a sense, essentially postmodern.

One of the most important painters working under the banner of New Old Masterism is the Norwegian artist Odd Nerdrum. Nerdrum paints with a technique similar to that of Rembrandt. His paintings often feature figures in a bleak landscape, inhabiting what appears to be perhaps a post-apocalyptic world.

You will find a link on this page to Odd Nerdrum's website, in the section titled "Artists Deserving Wider Recognition".


Odd Nerdrum, The Water Protectors, 1985


Odd Nerdrum, The Night Guard, 1986