The Cloud (painting)

The Cloud (Norwegian: Skyen) is a 1985 oil painting by the Norwegian artist Odd Nerdrum. It depicts a nude man in a leather helmet, looking out over a landscape with a compact dark cloud in the sky.

The Cloud
ArtistOdd Nerdrum
Year1985
MediumOil on canvas
Dimensions123 cm × 139 cm (48 in × 55 in)
LocationPrivate collection

In 2005 the painting was selected by the newspaper Morgenbladet as one of Norway's twelve most important artworks from the period 1945–2005.[1]

A version of the painting was sold for 1.9 million Norwegian kroner in 2008, which was the new record for a Nerdrum painting.[2] The record was held until 2016 when Dawn was sold for 341,000 British pounds.[3][4]

Status

The original version is severely damaged because it was painted with an oil mix that turned out to be sensitive to heat. The damaged painting was shown as part of Nerdrum's 2011 tax case, when the Norwegian tax agency deemed that Nerdrum had evaded taxes during the years 1997–2002 by hiding earnings in an Austrian safe deposit box. Nerdrum's defence said that the money was kept so it could be repaid to buyers of potentially damaged paintings from the same period as The Cloud, and that the secrecy was maintained to avoid a general devaluation of Nerdrum's art.[5][6]

References
  1. Johnsen, Vibeke (2005-09-23). "Våre 12 viktigste kunstverk". Nettavisen (in Norwegian). Retrieved 2016-04-23.
  2. Johnsen, Vibeke (2008-05-27). "Rekord for Nerdrum-maleri". Nettavisen (in Norwegian). Retrieved 2016-04-23.
  3. "Odd Nerdrum: Dawn". Sotheby's. Retrieved 2016-11-15.
  4. Hansen, Espen Arnold (2016-11-11). "Bowies Nerdrum-ikon solgt". Verdens Gang (in Norwegian). Retrieved 2016-11-15.
  5. Pettersen, Jonas (2011-08-02). "Dette er det nærmeste norsk presse har vært å få ta bilde av Odd Nerdrum på ni år". Dagbladet (in Norwegian). Retrieved 2016-04-23.
  6. Pettersen, Jonas (2011-08-03). "Odd Nerdrum viste fram et av Norges viktigste kunstverk i retten". Dagbladet (in Norwegian). Retrieved 2016-04-23.
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