Nina Sten-Knudsen (born 1957) is a Danish painter who played a central role in the Danish Wild Youth trend in the 1980s. She gained recognition from her participation in the 1982 exhibition ''Kniven på hovedet'' (Knife on the Head) held at Tranegården in Gentofte. More recently, her large landscapes raise existential questions of past and present, the merits of the modern world and the meaning of painting.

Biography

Born in Gentofte on 2 December 1957, she is the daughter of the biophysicist Ove Sten-Knudsen and the artist Nan-Marie Græbe. She studied painting under Egon Bjerg Nielsen at the

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(1975–77) before attending the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts where she studied under

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and

Hein Heinsen Hein Olaf Heinsen (born July 23, 1935 in Grindsted, Denmark) is a Danish artist who has contributed to the Lutheran art of Scandinavia. He made his debut on the Danish art scene in the 1960s as part of the minimalistic movement. Heinsen served as ...

(1977–82). After first collaborating with the Wild Youth movement, Sten-Knudsen developed an interest in prehistory and Nordic mythology as well as in primitive cultures such as the North American Indians, evidence of which can be seen in her landscapes. In the early 1980s, she introduced animals such as the wolf, the eagle, the horse and especially the stag in her primitive works. In the 1990s, figures disappeared from her landscapes which became increasingly empty and monochromatic. Her works explore basic existential themes of evil, past and present, the merits of the modern world and the meaning of painting. She has moved towards panoramic landscapes and cityscapes. Her ''Girl With a Knife'' (2007) first looks like a classical landscape but on closer examination it seems to consist of a number of fragments without any general perspective, bringing together past and present as well as the near and far. Since 2009, she has been working on a huge project, creating 130 images forming part of a narrative examining the origin of evil, each with a sometimes lengthy descriptive title. In addition to a series of scholarships, in 2000 Sten-Knudsen was awarded the Eckersberg Medal. Her works can be seen in art museums throughout Denmark as well as in

Chemnitz Chemnitz (; from 1953 to 1990: Karl-Marx-Stadt , ) is the third-largest city in the German state of Saxony after Leipzig and Dresden. It is the 28th largest city of Germany as well as the fourth largest city in the area of former East Germany a ...

, Würzburg and

Gothenburg Gothenburg (; abbreviated Gbg; sv, Göteborg ) is the second-largest city in Sweden, fifth-largest in the Nordic countries, and capital of the Västra Götaland County. It is situated by the Kattegat, on the west coast of Sweden, and has ...

. Würzburg is spelled Würtzburg in this reference.

References

External links

Nina Sten-Knudsen's websiteArticle from Kunsten.nu with a selection of works by Nina Sten-Knudsen
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sten-Knudsen, Nina 1957 births Living people People from Gentofte Municipality 20th-century Danish painters Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts alumni Recipients of the Eckersberg Medal 20th-century Danish women artists 21st-century Danish painters 21st-century Danish women artists Danish women painters Neo-expressionist artists