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Bente Larsen

Professor - History of Art

Email bente.larsen@ifikk.uio.no

Mobile phone 004525134764

Room 543 GM

Username

Visiting address Blindernveien 31 Georg Morgenstiernes hus 0313 Oslo

Postal address Postboks 1020 Blindern 0315 Oslo

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Academic Interests

Aesthetic Theories
Visuality
Modernism
Contemporary Art

Ongoing research

In my ongoing reseach focus is on the relation between the gaze and the art work. It is a relation that is discussed from the point of departure of the aeshetics of the fragment and it is developed in relation to works by Vilhelm Hammershøi, Ad Reinhardt and Gerhard Richter. Central concepts are attraction, distance, silence and melancholy

Higher education and employment history

Dr. Art. 1998 at the University of Oslo
Research fellow at the The Department of Art History, Oslo University, 2000-2002
Assistant professor, Department of Musicology and Art history, Lund University, 2003-2006
Research fellow at The Department of Musicology and Art history, Lund University, 2006-2009
Associate professor, Department of Philosophy, Classics, History of Art and Ideas, sec. of Art History, Oslo University, 2009-2010
Professor, Department of Arts and Cultural Sciences, Lund, 2010-2011
Professor, Department of Philosophy, Classics, History of Art and Ideas, sec. of Art History, 2011-

Appointments

Member of the board of The Nordic Society of Aesthetics
Member of the Board of representatives, Henie Onstad Kunstsenter
PhD-Leader, Department of Philosophy, Classics, History of Art and Ideas 2021-2022
Head of Section, Art History, Department of Philosophy, Classics, History of Art and Ideas, 2022-
Chair of the review panel of Arts and Literature, the Research Council of Finland, 2022-
Chair, NOS-HS workshop panel, 2015 - 2020
Member of the evaluation panel for Aesthetic disciplines (Literature, Theatre, Music, Film, Art and History of Architecture), the Swedish Research Council, 2010-2015
Head of section, Art History, Department of Philosophy, Classics, History of Art and Ideas, 2013 - 2016
Member of Department Board, Department of Philosophy, Classics, History of Art and Ideas, 2012 - 2020
Member of the board of external experts in an overall assessment of leading research areas at the Faculty of Humanities, Stockholm University, 2014
Member of Accreditation Panel, The Danish Accreditation Institution, 2014
Member of the board of Quality Assurance, Cultural science, Swedish Higher Education Authority 2013
Member of the Board of Humanities, Norwegian Research Council, 2010-2013

Tags: Art History, Aesthetics, Modernism

“Gray and the Silence of Surfaces”, in Kamini Vellodi & Aron Vinegar (ed.), Grey on Grey: On the Threshold of Philosophy and Art, Edinburgh University Press, (2023)
“Flowers of Evil”, OSL contemporary (2022)
“An Apologetic Praising of Derridean Deconstruction”. The Nordic Journal of Aesthetics (2022); Volum 31
“Antinomiernes spil eller den håbefulde forsoning”, Salongen (2022)
"Fragment and Laughter: The Art of Thomas Schütte", in Mathilda Olof-Ors (ed.) Thomas Schütte. United Enemies, Moderna Museet, Koenig Books, London (2016)
"The Infinity of Water Lilies: On Monet's Late Paintings", in Gordon McMullan & Sam Smiles (ed.), Late Styles and its Discontents. Oxford University Press, (2016)
"Vilhelm Hammershøi: A Danish Avant-Garde Painter", in Jakob Lothe & Bente Larsen (ed.) Perspectives on the Nordic, Novus Forlag (2016)
"Eye, Matter and Interpretation", The Nordic Journal of Aesthetics, no 46 (2013)
Per Inge Bjørlo. Exhibition catalogue (2012)
"Water Lilies and the Gesture of Melancholy: On Monet's Late Works", Site (2012)
"Blik og modernitet. Om Édouard Manets "L'Exposition Universelle de 1867"". Kunst og kultur (2012)
”The Melancholy of the Skull. On the Artworks of Per Inge Bjørlo.” i Kunst og Kultur, 3, (2008)
”On – Off – On – Off. A Discussion of Martin Creed’s Work, The Lights Going on and Off". (2007)
Bente Larsen (red.) Estetikk; Sansning, erkjennelse og verk, UniPub forlag. Oslo, (2006)
Mari Slaattelid. Loud and Close, Kisses and Dust. Euvrekatalog, Oslo, (2006)
”Overfladens afstand: Om forholdet mellem motiv og flade i Gerhard Richter’s kunst”. Konsthistorisk Tidsskrift, vol. 75, no 4, (2006)
”Verkets ögonblick” i: A.Johansson og M. Martinsson (red), Efter Adorno, Glänte produktion, (2003)
”Kunsten og Kønnet. Om udsmykningen på Gimlemoen” i I fellesskapets rom. HøyskoleForlaget, (2003)
”Sort. Momenter ved brugen af sort i 1900-tallets maleri” i Tegn, 2/2002
”The Contemplation of Desolation. On the Motive of the Ennui by Eugéne Delacroix
and the Aesthetic Experience as Melancholy.” Nordisk Estetisk Tidsskrift, nr. 24, (2001)
”Avstand”, I: Maaretta Jaukkuri (red), Skulpturlandskap Nordland, Press (2001)
”Tekst og form. Om konceptkunst og kunstnerisk udsmykning”, Årskatalog,
Utsmykkingsfondet for offentlige bygg, (2001)
“Fravær og nærvær. Om begivenheden i Waltercio Caldas’ skulptur Omkring.” i: A. Kittang og F. Tygstrup (red), Blikk på kunst, Oslo: F-press (2001)
“The Fragmentet Body: A Study of some Aesthetic Implications of Théodore Céricault’s Body Fragment Paintings”, Nordisk Estetisk Tidsskrift, nr. 20, (2000)
“On the Aesthetic constructions of Gerhard Richter.” ForArt. http://www.forart.no/, 2000
“Avstandens estetikk”, Form, nr. 4, (2000).
Stilhed. En studie i Manets tidligt-moderne produktion i lys af Adornos æstetisk-teoretiske bestemmelse af det moderne værk. Dr. art. afhandling, Oslo: Acta Humaniora, (1999)
“Forskydninger og ironi. Aspekter ved fragmentkarakteren i Picassos collager fra 1912-14”, Kunst og Kultur 2/99, Oslo. (2009)
2010: Anmeldelse af Pamela M. Lee, Chronophobia. On time in the Art of the 1960’s. Massachusetts 2004 i Ekfrase, 1/2010
2007: ”Presence”, i Per Inge Bjørlo. Selected Works, Oslo
2006: Anmeldelse af Tacida Dean, Reflecting Posterity. Kunst og Kultur, Oslo
2003: ”Navnene findes”. Katalogtekst for Mari Slaatelids udstilling navnene findes Galleri Bo Bjerggaard 27. februar til 12. april.
2001: Anmeldelse af Arne Engelstads bog, Interart, for Norsklæreren, 3/01.

Larsen, Bente (2023). Gray and the Silence of Surfaces. In Vinegar, Aron Sascha Morris & Vellodi, Kamini (Ed.), Grey on Grey: At the Threshold of Philosophy and Art. Edinburgh University Press. ISSN 9781474478519. Full text in Research Archive
Larsen, Bente (2022). Antinomierne spil eller den håbefulde forsoning (https://www.salongen.no/25070-2/). Salongen – nettidsskrift for filosofi og idéhistorie. ISSN 2703-7053. Full text in Research Archive
Larsen, Bente (2022). An apologetic Praising of Derridean Deconstruction. The Nordic Journal of Aesthetics. ISSN 2000-1452. 31(63), p. 158–161. Full text in Research Archive
Larsen, Bente (2016). Vilhelm Hammershøi: A Danish Avant-Garde Painter. In Larsen, Bente & Lothe, Jakob (Ed.), Perspectives on the Nordic. Novus Forlag. ISSN 9788270998579. p. 45–55. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
“Nordic” can be a controversial and contested concept. Each of the nine contributors to this book casts a sympathetic but critical eye on the role this concept has played within the field of art. Starting from the premise that significant aspects of art and aesthetics complicate, and arguably even challenge, an understanding of “the Nordic” as a concept that is either “self-evident” or “important”, the volume aims to provide a venue for sharing, elaborating and refining our understanding of the Nordic in relation to art-forms as varied as literature, the visual arts and film. Special emphasis is placed on the critical usefulness and relevance of terms such as perspective, reciprocity, and translation, and the international cross-currents associated with them. All of the contributions recognize that although use of the word “Nordic” was a response to a felt need to distinguish an apparently different sort of art, this art could not have emerged as it did without the influence of the art of countries located further south in Europe. Emphasizing the heterogeneity of art produced in the Nordic countries, all nine chapters of the book present Nordic art as multi-dimensional and dynamic, an art that responds to a growing influence of internationalization while at the same time itself contributing to international trends. The collection owes its inception to the research initiative UiO:Nordic launched by the University of Oslo in 2014, and four of the chapters are written by PhD candidates in the Faculty of Arts at the University of Oslo. [text on back cover]
Lothe, Jakob & Larsen, Bente (2016). Introduction. In Larsen, Bente & Lothe, Jakob (Ed.), Perspectives on the Nordic. Novus Forlag. ISSN 9788270998579. p. 9–24. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
“Nordic” can be a controversial and contested concept. Each of the nine contributors to this book casts a sympathetic but critical eye on the role this concept has played within the field of art. Starting from the premise that significant aspects of art and aesthetics complicate, and arguably even challenge, an understanding of “the Nordic” as a concept that is either “self-evident” or “important”, the volume aims to provide a venue for sharing, elaborating and refining our understanding of the Nordic in relation to art-forms as varied as literature, the visual arts and film. Special emphasis is placed on the critical usefulness and relevance of terms such as perspective, reciprocity, and translation, and the international cross-currents associated with them. All of the contributions recognize that although use of the word “Nordic” was a response to a felt need to distinguish an apparently different sort of art, this art could not have emerged as it did without the influence of the art of countries located further south in Europe. Emphasizing the heterogeneity of art produced in the Nordic countries, all nine chapters of the book present Nordic art as multi-dimensional and dynamic, an art that responds to a growing influence of internationalization while at the same time itself contributing to international trends. The collection owes its inception to the research initiative UiO:Nordic launched by the University of Oslo in 2014, and four of the chapters are written by PhD candidates in the Faculty of Arts at the University of Oslo. [text on back cover]
Larsen, Bente (2016). The Infinity of water Lilies: On Monet's Late Paintings. In McMullan, Gordon & Smiles, Sam (Ed.), Late Style and its Discontents. Oxford University Press. ISSN 9780198704621. doi: 10.1093/oso/9780198704621.003.0014. Full text in Research Archive
Larsen, Bente (2014). Eye, matter and interpretation :. The Nordic Journal of Aesthetics. ISSN 2000-1452. p. 34–46. doi: 10.7146/nja.v23i46.16380. Full text in Research Archive
Larsen, Bente (2012). Blik og modernitet. Om Édouard Manets "L'Exposition Universelle de 1867". Kunst og Kultur. ISSN 0023-5415. Full text in Research Archive
Larsen, Bente (2012). Water Lilies and the Gesture of Melancholy: On Monet's Late Works. Site. ISSN 1650-7894. Full text in Research Archive
Larsen, Bente (2008). "The Melancholy of the Skull. On the artworks of Per Inge Bjørlo.". Kunst og Kultur. ISSN 0023-5415. Full text in Research Archive
Larsen, Bente (2006). "Overfladens afstand. Om forholdet mellem motiv og flade i Gerhard Richters kunst.". Konsthistorisk tidskrift. ISSN 0023-3609. 75(4), p. 214–229. Full text in Research Archive
Larsen, Bente (2001). Fravær og nærvær. Om Waltercio Caldas' skulptur 'Omkring'. In Kittang, Atle; Tygstrup, Fredrik & Vaa, Aaslaug (Ed.), Blilkk på Kunst. Press, Oslo. ISSN 9788275470728. p. 203–221. Full text in Research Archive
Larsen, Bente (2000). The Fragmented Body. A Study of some Aesthetic Implications of Théodore Géricault's Body Fragment Paintings. Nordisk Estetisk Tidsskrift. ISSN 0284-7698. 22. Full text in Research Archive
Larsen, Bente (1999). Forskydninger og ironi. Aspekter ved fragmentkarakteren i Picassos collager fra 1912-1914. Kunst og Kultur. ISSN 0023-5415. 2, p. 99–115. Full text in Research Archive

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Johnsen, Espen; Larsen, Bente & Sjåstad, Øystein (2026). Kystlandskap i sommerlys. Kunsten finner sted. Orfeus Forlag. ISBN 9788293959366. 302 p. Full text in Research Archive
Larsen, Bente & Lothe, Jakob (2016). Perspectives on the Nordic. Novus Forlag. ISBN 9788270998579. 187 p. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
“Nordic” can be a controversial and contested concept. Each of the nine contributors to this book casts a sympathetic but critical eye on the role this concept has played within the field of art. Starting from the premise that significant aspects of art and aesthetics complicate, and arguably even challenge, an understanding of “the Nordic” as a concept that is either “self-evident” or “important”, the volume aims to provide a venue for sharing, elaborating and refining our understanding of the Nordic in relation to art-forms as varied as literature, the visual arts and film. Special emphasis is placed on the critical usefulness and relevance of terms such as perspective, reciprocity, and translation, and the international cross-currents associated with them. All of the contributions recognize that although use of the word “Nordic” was a response to a felt need to distinguish an apparently different sort of art, this art could not have emerged as it did without the influence of the art of countries located further south in Europe. Emphasizing the heterogeneity of art produced in the Nordic countries, all nine chapters of the book present Nordic art as multi-dimensional and dynamic, an art that responds to a growing influence of internationalization while at the same time itself contributing to international trends. The collection owes its inception to the research initiative UiO:Nordic launched by the University of Oslo in 2014, and four of the chapters are written by PhD candidates in the Faculty of Arts at the University of Oslo. [text on back cover]
Larsen, Bente (2013). Per Inge Bjørlo. Kunstmuseet i Tønder. 15 p. Full text in Research Archive
Larsen, Bente (2006). Madama Butterfly: A Lady-in-Waiting. Solum. ISBN 9788274772410. 10 p. Full text in Research Archive
Larsen, Bente (2006). Estetikk. Sansing, erkjennelse og verk. Unipub forlag. ISBN 9788274772410. 180 p. Full text in Research Archive
Larsen, Bente (2003). "Navnene findes". Marit Slaatelid. Bo Bjerregaard. 10 p. Full text in Research Archive
Larsen, Bente (2003). Verkets ögonblick. Glänte produktion. ISBN 9789197457507. 15 p. Full text in Research Archive
Larsen, Bente (2003). "Kunsten og kønnet. Om udsmykningen på Gimlemoen" i I fellesskapets rom. Cappelen Damm Høyskoleforlaget. ISBN 9788276346008. 8 p. Full text in Research Archive
Larsen, Bente (1999). Stilhed. En studie i Manets tidligt-moderne produktion i lys af Adornos æstetisk-teoretiske bestemmelse af det moderne. Acta humaniora. ISBN 9788274770195. 260 p. Full text in Research Archive

View all works in NVA

Larsen, Bente (2025). Konsten är: Essäer om konstverk och konststudier. Konsthistorisk tidskrift. ISSN 0023-3609. 93(4). doi: 10.1080/00233609.2025.2529881. Full text in Research Archive
Larsen, Bente (2023). Antinomiernes spil eller den håbefulde forsoning. Salongen – nettidsskrift for filosofi og idéhistorie. ISSN 2703-7053. Full text in Research Archive
Larsen, Bente (2023). An Apologetic Praising of Derridean Deconstruction. The Nordic Journal of Aesthetics. ISSN 2000-1452. Full text in Research Archive
Larsen, Bente (2022). Rebellious Silence. On the Art of Shirin Neshat. Full text in Research Archive
Larsen, Bente (2022). The Gaze as an Interiority of Silencing. Full text in Research Archive
Larsen, Bente (2019). The Silence of the Surface. On Hammershøi's Interiors. Full text in Research Archive
Larsen, Bente (2019). On Jean-Luc Nancy. Full text in Research Archive
Larsen, Bente (2018). Why aesthetics? Full text in Research Archive
Larsen, Bente (2018). Surface. On gray as the Melancholy of Silence in Hammershøy. Full text in Research Archive
Larsen, Bente (2018). Attraction, Touch and the Fragment. On Affect, Melancholy and Painterly Abstraction. Full text in Research Archive
Larsen, Bente (2018). Blik, falde, portræt. Full text in Research Archive
Larsen, Bente (2016). "Dette er kunst". Dag Solhjell. Kunst og Kultur. ISSN 0023-5415. p. 50–52. Full text in Research Archive
Larsen, Bente (2016). Fragment and Laughter: The Art of Thomas Schütte. In Olof-Ors, Matilda (Eds.), Thomas Schütte: United Enemies. Koenig Books. ISSN 9783960980087. p. 15–21. Full text in Research Archive
Larsen, Bente (2000). The contemplation og desolation. Full text in Research Archive
Larsen, Bente (2000). Avstandens Estetik. FORM. ISSN 0805-9144. 4. Full text in Research Archive
Larsen, Bente (1999). The Fragmentet Body: A Study of some Aesthetic Implications of Théodore Géricault's Body Fragment Paintings. Full text in Research Archive
Larsen, Bente (1999). Nåtidskunst som fortolket tegn. Full text in Research Archive
Larsen, Bente (1999). Waltercio Caldas. Full text in Research Archive

View all works in NVA

Published Dec. 14, 2010 2:53 PM - Last modified July 12, 2023 5:53 PM

Bente Larsen

Academic Interests

Ongoing research

Higher education and employment history

Appointments

Publications

Research groups