The Cloud (painting)
painting by Odd Nerdrum
The Cloud (Norwegian: Skyen) is an oil painting by the Norwegian artist Odd Nerdrum, from 1985. It depicts a nude man in a leather helmet, looking out over a landscape with a compact dark cloud in the sky. It is held in a private 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.
A version of the painting was sold for 1.9 million Norwegian kroner in 2008, which was the new record for a Nerdrum painting. The record was held until 2016 when Dawn was sold for £341,000 British.
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.
The public source identifies “The Cloud (painting)” as painting by Odd Nerdrum. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Cloud, painting and Nerdrum.
Why this record matters
A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “The Cloud (painting)”, the useful work is to connect “painting by Odd Nerdrum” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.
Reception evidence should be dated and situated: later canonical status may differ sharply from the work’s initial circulation. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 10, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q19389141. None of the 1 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1985, 2005, 1945 and 2008.
Later fame can flatten the distinction between original context, subsequent adaptation and institutional collecting history. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Separate the work, its editions or performances, and its later reception. Catalogue records, publication histories and object files often preserve different parts of that story.
- Identifying works and editions
- Tracing reception history
- Finding collection records
The original object or edition, catalogue raisonné, performance record, rights file and holding institution.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “The Cloud (painting)”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow The Cloud (painting) primary sources, The Cloud (painting) archive and Cloud research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “The Cloud (painting)”?
- How did later circulation or interpretation alter the work’s reception?
- Where is authorship, date or provenance documented?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “The Cloud (painting)” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.