– Kant was a pioneer for the takeover of feelings in our culture, says Odd Nerdrum, surrounded in his studio by the theatre group which is about to stage The Last Days of Immanuel Kant in Norway for the first time, almost twenty years after the play was published in book form (Immanuel Kants siste dager, 2003).
The play was scheduled to be performed at the National Theatre in Oslo that very same year, but according to Kristofer Hivju, the publication sparked controversy due to Nerdrum’s unacademic portrayal of Kant, and in consequence, the performance was canceled.
A year later, Hivju (as van Meegeren) and Jan Haarstad (as Kant) produced a radio drama based on the play. The stage play was performed for the first time in Malmö, Sweden in 2007.
In 2019, Odd Nerdrum’s daughter, Aftur, decided to take the task into her own hands and stage the performance of The Last Days of Immanuel Kant for the first time in Norway.
– I grew up with this play, she says. – I listened to it over and over and thought to myself: this is fantastic! It doesn’t bore me for a second. Why has this play not been performed before?
Jonathan Chedeville and Aftur Nerdrum during a rehearsal as Adolf Lenke and Kant’s maid.
The play premieres 28th August at TBS Gallery in Oslo in cooperation with Sivilisasjonen, starring Per Christian Ellefsen as Immanuel Kant, Öde Nerdrum as Han van Meegeren, Fredrik Hermansen as Lampe, Jonathan Chedeville as Adolf Lenke, Aftur Nerdrum as the maid, and Elias Peña Corrall as Principal Knott.
Just like Ebenezer Scrooge, the national romantic philosopher Immanuel Kant is confronted with the sins of the past when Han Van Meegeren’s ghost shows up in his house in the middle of the night.
Suddenly, Kant finds himself in a situation where he is forced to take a stand on his mystical ideas about art and his forbidden, homoerotic longings. An inner conflict between the bourgeois, christian ethics and primal, human impulses are recurring themes throughout the play.
“The Last Days of Immanuel Kant” challenges the academic, elite view of the German thinker’s philosophy, whose legacy is still disputed: Was he a champion of reason or the all-destroyer?
Kristofer Hivju, Per Christian Ellefsen and Odd Nerdrum. Photo: Bork S. Nerdrum
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.
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