'Nordic Art : The Modern Breakthrough 1860-1920' cited as one of the essential art books of 2013

Nordic Art : The Modern Breakthrough 1860-1920, edited by Professor David Jackson (School of Fine Art, History of Art and Cultural Studies), was recently named one of the year's essential art books by Brian Sewell in the London Evening Standard. The review reads as follows:

'Scandinavian painting was an inflating bubble in the art market 30 years ago but after spawning a dozen books in English (now all out of print) it fell flat and the painters are again forgotten. Early this year, however, the subject was revived in an exhibition in Groningen, and to those who were too young to be interested when the market was at its height, the catalogue (in English) is a useful introduction to a subject that has slipped into obscurity again. It offers a handful of essays in slightly awkward translation, but its fine illustrations make well enough emphatic points about the particular clarity of Nordic light, doom, gloom, suicidal depression and manic contentment. These are usefully supported by artists' biographies, notes on the plates and a chronology that gives Nordic art, ranging from Iceland to Finland, a European context.'

Read the full article in the London Evening Standard (19 December 2013)

Nordic Art: The Modern Breakthrough 1860-1920, edited by David Jackson, (Hirmer, £45) is available here