‘Western Norway consists of shades of grey, ranging from dazzling white to coal black. This multitude of shades and their orchestration never ceases to fascinate me.

If you look closely, you notice that darkness is never black - it always has a colour, a temperature. Darkness appears monotonous only at first glance.

I am sometimes accused of making dismally dark paintings. My response is in order to paint the light, I have to make room for darkness’
-Ørnulf Opdahl

Toward the Light: The Paintings of Ørnulf Opdahl includes 164 colour images creating a visual chronology of the artist’s paintings spanning the years from 1990 to the present.

William Varley’s accompanying essay describes the artist’s philosophical and artistic influences which include romantic predecessors as diverse as Wordsworth, Peder Balke and Rothko.

He maintains that Opdahl’s predilection for seeing light as a spiritual element rather than merely a natural phenomenon brings us closer to understanding him as a remarkable heir to nordic romanticism.

Paperback, 28 x 28cm

192 pages (164 full colour illustrations)

Editor Mara-Helen Wood

Essay by William Varley

ISBN 978-0-9935228-0-2