The Nerdrum Museum announces the opening of its third season, presenting a comprehensive selection of works by Odd Nerdrum that invites visitors into a timeless, primeval universe.
Across two floors within a restored industrial building from the 1870s, the collection moves through key phases of Nerdrum’s career: from his socially engaged works of the 1960s and 70s, to the desert landscapes and existential imagery of the 1980s, and further into the iconic, timeless figuration that has defined his international reputation. Themes of exile, awakening, ritual, and the human condition unfold in a sequence of carefully composed rooms, including landscapes of spiritual desolation, archetypal female figures, and a striking series of self-portraits.
The museum interior has undergone a complete transformation, redesigned by architect Karl Fredrik Honningsvåg in collaboration with Nerdrum’s son, Öde Nerdrum. Together, they have shaped the presentation of the collection into a carefully structured maze. The new spatial design guides visitors through the museum, where each room unfolds as part of a larger narrative.
The museum’s second floor is now partially open. Here, visitors encounter works that explore themes of love, birth, blindness, illness, and death, revealing Nerdrum’s engagement with life’s most fundamental experiences.
Later on, the museum will unveil the Larvikite granite staircase and the Cathedral Room. This grand space will house The Opening of the Prisons (2026), the largest work in the museum, presented alongside the Void series, where human figures drift through infinite space.
A new addition this season is the Sketch Room, which offers insight into the origins of Nerdrum’s works, presenting for the first time a selection of sketches and studies chosen by the painter himself.
Many were discovered tucked inside books on Hertervig, Rembrandt, and other formative influences — quick notations from travel or the studio, where whatever surface was at hand became a place for ideas. The room reveals how ideas take shape and develop into finished works, inviting visitors to trace connections across the exhibition halls.
The sketches have been compiled by Nerdrum’s son, Bork Nerdrum, and arranged in mosaic-like compositions, elegantly framed by Det Gylne Galleri.
The museum also presents the release of The Hunt of Odd Nerdrum (2026), published in both English and Norwegian. Narrated by the painter’s former pupil Jan-Ove Tuv, the book offers further insight into Nerdrum’s influences, life, and philosophy, complementing the museum experience.
Also released this year is Ni om Nerdrum, a collection of essays by nine women reflecting on Nerdrum’s paintings and their personal encounters with him as a teacher and individual.
Tickets and guided tours are available at the museum’s website.
Drifting
28 000 kr
Infant
50 000 kr
Loving couple
26 000 kr
We are now collaborating with Det Gylne Galleri
Now you can order lithographs framed by Det Gylne Galleri in Tønsberg – operated by Madeleine Skarsteen and Nicolai Aschim, who continue four generations of experience in the art of framing. A selection of Odd Nerdrum’s prints will also be on view in the gallery located in downtown Tønsberg next to Farmandstredet. The gallery offers local pickup of ordered prints in their new store in Drammen as well as Oslo, where they collaborate with Det Gylne Snitt. Local Pickup Points: Det Gylne Galleri, Håkon Gamles gate 1A, 3111 Tønsberg Det Gylne Galleri, St.Olavsgate 3, 3017 Drammen Det Gylne Snitt, Frognerveien 24, 0263 Oslo Odd Nerdrum’s prints can be ordered with our standard 3072-CD frame with passepartout delivered in AR92 glass (92% ultraviolet protection) from our online store. Limited edition prints by Odd Nerdrum:
Kitsch Meets Art: Nerdrum & Melgaard Exhibition in Oslo
Two worlds collide when the exhibition Nerdrum & Melgaard opens 6 pm Thursday 7th November at Fineart Oslo. The show will include limited edition prints by two of Norway’s most influential and controversial figures in the kitsch and art world respectively. Odd Nerdrum and Bjarne Melgaard represent diametrically different but powerful visions: the former with his classical figuration, focusing on timeless imagery and vulnerability, and the latter with his contemporary, expressive style, tapping into sexuality, identity and the grimness of life. On display will be recent as well as venerable prints that have stood the test of time, original drawings, sculptures and a unique collaborative self-portrait. This double portrait reveals the opposing forms of expression — giving the public an opportunity to closely compare the two. Odd Nerdrum and Bjarne Melgaard agreed last year to do a collaboration. Here together with the gallery owner Rolf Stavnem. Photo: Naina Helén Jåma / VG The Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK) will be present and cover the opening, which will include opening remarks from the real-estate investor Christian Ringnes and the editor-in-chief of Subjekt, Danby Choi.
Rembrandt’s Melancholy and Classical Values
Do you want to know how the mind of the greatest classical painter of our time works?Do you wonder what “classical values” actually are?And why melancholy is actually that important to us? Odd Nerdrum and his former student Jan-Ove Tuv sit down for a conversation in the building which is the Nerdrum Museum in the making: The old Pipe House at Agnes Square outside of Stavern.With a philosophical approach to painting, the discussion will move beyond the strokes and attempt to explain the meaning of painting. Join a one hour conversation about: • The importance of Rembrandt’s melancholy• Why storytelling is so important to us• Why “modern” values are destructive for classical painters and the audience. The event will take place September 14th at 17:00 – 18:00. Tickets are now available.
English