About
The young Olav Strømme stood out in the 1930s with his existentially charged cityscapes, petrified flowers, and nocturnes. Several of his pictures were created with such unconventional materials as cement mass, coloured glass, and mirror shards, revealing a kinship with some of Max Ernst’s surrealistic depictions of ruin and destruction from the late 1920s.
In the 1960s Strømme returned to a dark, nocturnal imagery, now in more abstracted forms and often in large formats. Thalatta, which is almost three metres tall and almost square, contains mostly dark brown hues that contrast with glittering elements of silver. The surface is divided vertically into three distinct fields, with the right-hand field stretched out over a separate frame. Up close the viewer sees shades of blue and other colours, added by way of painted patches that were subsequently removed and that have left behind slight traces of paint that provide a vibrating, tactile impression. The title is Greek and means “the sea”. It refers to the historian Xenophon’s description of Greek mercenaries retreating from a disastrous war in Asia Minor, and their exultant cry upon finally seeing the Black Sea: Thalatta! Thalatta!
The American art historian Robert Rosenblum has noted how abstract painters from the midtwentieth century on, such as Mark Rothko, continue romanticism’s depiction of the sublime by using simple, abstract forms within large-scale formats. It is reasonable to imagine that Strømmewanted to create just such an impression of the majestic or boundless in this monumental, abstract painting.
- Creation date:
- (1975)
- Other titles:
- Thalatta (NOR)
- Object type:
- Painting
- Materials and techniques:
- Olje på lerret
- Material:
- Canvas
- Dimensions:
- Height: 281 cm
- Width: 266.5 cm
- Keywords:
- Visual art
- Classification:
- 532 - Bildende kunst
- Inventory no.:
- MS-02044-1989
- Cataloguing level:
- Single object
- Acquisition:
- Kjøpt 1989
- Owner and collection:
- Nasjonalmuseet for kunst, arkitektur og design, The Fine Art Collections
- Photo:
- Børre Høstland
- Copyright:
- © Strømme, Olav/<a href="https://www.bono.no/" target="_blank">BONO</a>
Nasjonalmuseet's collection catalogue is a living resource of information gathered since the 1830's. Some records may contain language or ideas that today could be perceived as outdated, offensive or discriminatory with regard to for instance gender, sexuality, ethnicity or disability, and that may be at odds with the museum's values regarding equality and diversity.
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Other works by Olav Strømme
The Death of Consul Decius (after Rubens)Olav Strømme
Maria Stuart IOlav Strømme(1957)
Hyllest til ØstenOlav Strømme(1974)
Lystak IOlav Strømme(1975)
Catch of HerringOlav Strømme1938
Uten tittel (Mur)Olav Strømme1961
Fuge av BachOlav Strømme(1974)
Lystak over by IIIOlav Strømme(1976)
Lys faller inn IOlav StrømmeAntagelig 1975
Fra ØstenOlav Strømme1971
Horisont - ØstenOlav StrømmeAntagelig 1973
Fuge IIIOlav Strømme1961





























