The Cave of Apelles
Jan-Ove Tuv & Bork S. Nerdrum
Long form conversations on culture, myths, and philosophy.
For Premium access: https://www.patreon.com/caveofapelles
For Premium access: https://www.patreon.com/caveofapelles
Episodes
Mentioned books

Dec 1, 2023 • 1h 26min
The Genius, Museum and Art vs Craft: Reading Larry Shiner’s The Invention of Art | Pt. 2
Bork Nerdrum and Jan-Ove Tuv take a deep-dive into Larry Shiner's book The Invention of Art (2001), commenting on the contents from the perspective of classical painting and culture.
👍✨ Support our show and get access to more than 200 exclusive posts:
https://patreon.com/caveofapelles/
Chapter markers:
00:00 Architects separated from masons
05:16 Craft vs. genius
09:41 “Creative imagination” vs imitation
20:11 Kant's superhuman genius
24:25 Artification of music and the idiosyncratic world of genius
31:20 “From patronage to market”
44:21 Art vs. money, copyright and the “aesthetic”
48:50 “Kant and Schiller sum up the aesthetic”
53:24 Kant's “fine art vs craft” & indifference vs. storytelling
58:00 Kant's spontaneous genius
1:00:42 Schiller
1:03:28 Museums as the great neutralizers
1:15:28 de Quincy's warnings against the museum
1:19:26 Do we need museums?
This episode featured Bork Nerdrum and Jan-Ove Tuv and was filmed by Myndin Nerdrum and Auden Dillon.
The centerpiece was a 19th century reproduction of G. F. Watts' Hope.
SHOUTOUT to our TOP SPONSORS!
Fergus Ryan
Matthias Proy
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Nov 15, 2023 • 1h 26min
Everything Starts With the Columns | Architect Nils Freckeus on Beauty and Classical Principles
The young architect has already made a mark on one of Sweden's cities by winning a competition to build a housing complex in multiple classical styles. Nils Freckeus has a strictly classical approach and aspires to work like the old building masters.
👍✨ Support our show and get access to more than 200 exclusive posts:
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Chapter markers:
00:00 Introduction
01:14 Columns not allowed!
05:05 The problem of complaining
09:48 Freckeus' first place in a municipal architecture competition
16:41 "Our time" is what you make of it
18:13 Sticking to the classical principles
19:45 Everything starts with the columns!
26:27 Beauty is recognizing nature…?
28:32 Freckeus' Nobel center in Stockholm
32:26 The tactics of pushing modernist buildings
37:20 "Classical", "traditional" or "classicism"?
43:00 Reflecting the time? Rebuilding The Notre Dame in Paris
49:43 Corbusier's five conservative rules
53:08 The eastern idea of "copying"
59:00 Fear, boredom & lack of confidence
1:04:03 Classical: sustainability in material, style and economy
1:11:33 Regulations and the big developers
1:15:32 "Humans are beautiful - architecture should be too"
1:21:57 Built not by gods, but by human beings
This episode featured Nils Freckeus & Carl Korsnes and was filmed and edited by Bork Nerdrum.
The centerpiece was a study drawing of a Nobel Center in Stockholm by Nils Freckeus, based on an idea by Ferdinand Boberg.
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Nov 1, 2023 • 52min
The Æsir, Vanir & Jötnar | Bronze Age Blending, War and Trade | Norse Mythology Pt. 1
Jan-Ove Tuv sits down with Sturla Ellingvåg to dive deep into norse mythology.
Ellingvåg is the historian behind the Viking Stories channel on YouTube .
He is associated with the Max Planck Institute in Germany, and is convinced that history has to be studied in a broader context than current fashion allows.
We have previously released an interview with Ellingvåg on this channel:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sFeje-6fYmw
👍✨ Support our show and get access to more than 200 exclusive posts:
https://patreon.com/caveofapelles/
Chapter markers:
00:00 Can we trust Snorre's "Edda"?
08:04 The Yamnaya warriors from the Armenian highlands
10:23 Crisis and mixing
12:26 Bronze Age blending: the Jötnar, Æsir & Vanir
15:57 Mobility, boat types and trade
23:00 “Euhemerism“ and “Hieros gamos“
25:38 Different priorities for agriculturalists and warriors
30:50 What always happens after catastrophes
34:43 DNA studies from the east
38:18 Trading hostages - an Indo-European way of ruling
40:37 Horse & carriage
42:55 The marriage between Njord and Skade: culturally too different?
45:03 The strange heritage of Norse individualism and conformity
This episode featured Sturla Ellingvåg & Jan-Ove Tuv and was filmed and edited by Bork Nerdrum.
The centerpiece was a 19th century reproduction of G. F. Watts' Hope.
SHOUTOUT to our TOP SPONSORS!
Fergus Ryan
Matthias Proy
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Oct 15, 2023 • 1h 18min
Kaja Norum on Beauty, Sentimentality and the Pleasure of Imitation
Kaja Forum is a Norwegian painter with an acute sensibility to value and tender moments. Living off of commissions, Norum will explain how she balances her own wishes and those of the commissioner. She will also discuss how she approaches her own work, laying out her method of solving compositions and how she double-checks herself by comparing her own work with the old masters.
In addition, Norum will talk about her favorite contemporary colleague Molly Judd, and how she has been inspired by the works of August Rodin, Eugène Carrière and Odd Nerdrum.
You can visit her website by going to:
https://www.ateliernorum.com/
👍✨ Support our show and get access to more than 200 exclusive posts:
https://patreon.com/caveofapelles/
Chapter markers:
00:00 Introduction
01:07 Waldorf education and the modernist hostility
06:39 First time seeing Odd Nerdrum in person
09:45 Originality vs pleasure of imitation
13:28 Norum's charcoal drawing “Outcasts”
14:24 Beauty: recognizing the human condition
21:07 Resonating with archetypal images (Rodin and Carrière)
27:24 The problem of painting from photo
31:01 Working with compositions
34:12 Working with commissions
36:41 Loose and rough paintings look alive
38:09 Practical advice on commissions
47:16 Norum's hijacked website
48:21 Commissions: spotting the carrot in it
51:35 Rodin, Nerdrum and making changes to the model
58:43 The Figurativas exhibition at MEAM in Barcelona
1:07:04 Correcting your own paintings
1:10:02 Norum on her friend and colleague Molly Judd
This episode featured Kaja Norum & Jan-Ove Tuv and was filmed and edited by Bork Nerdrum.
The centerpiece was a charcoal drawing by Norum entitled "Outcasts".
SHOUTOUT to our TOP SPONSORS!
Fergus Ryan
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Eivind Josten
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Oct 1, 2023 • 1h 54min
Fine Art’s Expulsion of Craft and Sensuality: Reading Larry Shiner’s "The Invention of Art" | Part 1
Bork Nerdrum and Jan-Ove Tuv take a deep-dive into Larry Shiner's book The Invention of Art (2001), commenting on the contents from the perspective of classical painting and culture.
👍✨ Support our show and get access to more than 200 exclusive posts:
https://patreon.com/caveofapelles/
Chapter markers:
00:00 "A European invention barely 200 years old"
05:58 The Great Division
10:02 Disinterested contemplation and the new religion
14:06 "The Greeks had no word for it"
17:50 A broader idea of imitation
21:45 Finding "Art" in the ancient Greeks
23:43 No "aesthetics": The Knidian Aphropdite & Daidalos
25:37 The Middle Ages: "artifici" vs. "artist"
28:32 Rubens the factory owner & Alexander Dumas’ ghost writers
31:30 The Middle Ages and the workshop tradition
37:29 Beauty and categorization in the middle ages
44:47 The status of the painter in the Renaissance
52:45 "Renaissance Rivals" and the categorization of music
55:53 Leonardo’s Madonna and the idea of progress
1:06:07 Projecting "modern" values into the past
1:17:00 "A Proto-Aesthetic"
1:24:20 Charles Batteux and the invention of "fine" arts
1:31:31 The Enlightenment Encyclopedia: fine arts versus reason
1:34:54 From "fine" art to "Art"
1:44:01 Signs of the modern art vs. craft polarity
1:47:49 Value: from painting to painter
This episode featured Bork Nerdrum & Jan-Ove Tuv and was filmed by Myndin Nerdrum & Eduardo Nogueira and was edited by Bork Nerdrum.
The centerpiece was a 19th century reproduction of G. F. Watts' Hope.
SHOUTOUT to our TOP SPONSORS!
Fergus Ryan
Matthias Proy
Børge Moe
Diego
Subscribe to our newsletter. It is the only way to make sure that you receive content from us on a regular basis:
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Sep 15, 2023 • 1h 9min
Belief in Progress: Blessing or Curse to Classical Painters? | Nerdrum, Hicks and Tuv
Are we progressing towards a brighter future, or have we lost something important on the way? Should we look at science and poetry through the same lens, or is that one of the reasons why we have ended up with modernism? Philosopher Stephen Hicks sits down with Classical painters, Odd Nerdrum & Jan-Ove Tuv, to discuss the modern belief in progress and whether it is shaping the art world for good or for bad.
👍✨ Support our show and get access to more than 200 exclusive posts:
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Chapter markers:
00:00 Belief in progress: net negative or corrective to nihilist art world?
10:08 Recycling vs decay and "spiritual racism"
18:36 Cyclical history and modern nihilism
22:24 Only the Greek sculptures are destroyed
25:08 Progress vs unchanging reality
28:53 The universal in the particular
30:15 The fish pudding
35:12 Should painters celebrate scientific progress?
38:15 A piece of burned wood in Leonardo´s hands…
40:58 Melancholy, a gold mine
45:56 Skill, sensuality, desire and poetry
49:09 Meeting people on their weakest point
53:05 Death and resurrection of Rembrandt
57:21 Michelangelo's Pietá vs David
59:34 They developed their whole life
1:04:09 Made by the same person
This episode featured Stephen Hicks, Odd Nerdrum & Jan-Ove Tuv and was filmed and edited by Bork Nerdrum.
SHOUTOUT to our TOP SPONSORS!
Fergus Ryan
Matthias Proy
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Sep 1, 2023 • 1h 17min
The Art of Fiction | Using Ayn Rand's Ideas to become a Good Storyteller
What are the foundational rules of storytelling and can Ayn Rand's philosophy serve as an inspiration to fiction authors? Henrik Knightingale, who just released his first play, is an objectivist with a keen interest for the work of Ayn Rand. He sits down with Jan-Ove Tuv and Carl Korsnes to discuss her ideas about literature and reveals how he went from being a modernist to a writer with structure and a clear goal in mind.
Henrik Knightingale's debut play "In His Own Shadow" is now available on Amazon:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CGYPVSZT
👍✨ Support our show and get access to more than 200 exclusive posts:
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Chapter markers:
00:00 From unconscious modernist to clear standards
05:25 Forging a plot
10:28 The Climax: a struggle of life and death
21:38 Definition of "plot" & "theme"
22:45 Tragedy vs unfaltering heroes?
29:05 Rand's so-called "cardboard figures"
33:16 Determinism vs Romanticism
40:41 The role of volition
50:04 Balzac, Lucian Freud and Andrew Wyeth
56:00 Disregarding biographical data
58:35 Show, don’t tell
1:02:37 Which authors Rand favored
1:05:12 Life as it can be — and ought to be
1:09:54 My sense of life…?
This episode featured Henrik Knightingale, Jan-Ove Tuv & Carl Korsnes and was filmed and edited by Bork Nerdrum.
The centerpiece was a 19th century reproduction of G. F. Watts' Hope.
SHOUTOUT to our TOP SPONSORS!
Fergus Ryan
Matthias Proy
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Aug 15, 2023 • 1h 36min
Making Dystopia: James Stevens Curl Exposes Totalitarian Modernism and the Falsification of History
Professor James Stevens Curl is the author of the book "Making Dystopia: The Strange Rise and Survival of Architectural Barbarism". He dissects the modernist ideology as a historical phenomenon, which is not independent of the authoritarian social forces that surround it. On the contrary, Stevens Curl demonstrates that modernism became an authoritarian aesthetic ideology from early on, which eventually characterized the whole of Western culture.
Where many academics in Western Europe have taken a nihilistic approach to the dystopian urban landscapes that have risen after the Second World War, James Stevens Curl chooses a firm position. As he sees it, modernism is a deeply immoral and a socially destructive project, which should be actively combated.
Curl has also written extensively about Victorian architecture. Architecturally, the Victorian era was a rich era, with great building activity and saw the construction of many beautiful churches. In his newest book "English Victorian Churches", Curl explains how the European political currents of the time, British religious policy, and local engagement played a significant role in realizing this rich and beautiful architectural period."
👍✨ Support our show and get access to more than 200 exclusive posts:
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Chapter markers:
00:33 Intro
01:48 Architecture and the surrounding landscape
05:12 “Making Dystopia”: how modernism came about
10:35 Gropius, Miese and Le Corbusier
12:41 Pevsner: “modern architecture should be totalitarian”
16:06 Totalitarian mindset and the Nazi connection
25:42 Modernist bullying and idolatry
32:38 Abandoned churches and falsification of history
44:04 The gothic style
48:33 The language of classical architecture
51:06 Defining beauty
56:56 Modernism: a disaster in every way
1:00:16 Good examples
1:07:03 Modern architecture and sculpture
1:10:26 Modernism and corruption
1:14:24 “Making Dystopia” and Curl's students
1:20:04 The role of architectural history and King Charles
1:26:42 Not just one style
This episode featured James Stevens Curl & Carl Korsnes and was filmed and edited by Bork Nerdrum.
The centerpiece was, on the left: a brown high-rise building
under clear blue sky (photo: Dids) and on the right: St Mary's Church, Studley Royal Deer Park.
(photo: Nicks-2017)
SHOUTOUT to our TOP SPONSORS!
Fergus Ryan
Matthias Proy
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Jul 15, 2023 • 1h 33min
Sturla Ellingvåg on Vikings, Norse Myths, Genetic Memory & Connecting the Longer Lines in History
Sturla Ellingvåg is the historian behind @VikingStories .
He is is currently collaborating in DNA-projects with the Max Planck Institute in Germany, and is convinced that history has to be studied in a broader context than current fashion allows.
He traces the roots of the Viking Age back to the Bronze Age and beyond, and also sees the earliest Viking raids as a pre-emptive defense against the onslaught of the "sword Christendom" of the Emperor Charlemagne. Ellingvåg takes us through Norse mythology, its connection to Greek mythology and society and how it may reflect reality in unexpected ways.
Were the Norse Gods actually historical human beings and did the Vikings become more resilient through their stories? Join us as we delve into the Norse sense of life and discuss the power of their stories.
👍✨ Support our show and get access to more than 200 exclusive posts:
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Chapter markers:
00:31 Introducing Ellingvåg
01:04 Thinking across time
04:57 The Pre-emptive warfare of the vikings
10:27 Vikings: Democracy and Individualism
16:06 Elite marriage and "blue blood"
19:01 English Law is Norman Law
22:06 Starkad and the viking mentality
27:57 Scandinavian-Mediterranean contact
36:25 Scandinavian virgins at the Oracle of Delphi
43:51 Height differences and the sun winning over darkness
47:37 Norse gods: actual historical peoples?
53:57 The blood brothers Odin and Loke
56:15 Catastrophes cemented in myths
59:47 Metamorphosis of gods over time
1:05:31 Odin's search for knowledge
1:10:03 Shamanic journeys and living like animals
1:13:47 Genetic memory and canalization
1:19:53 Reconnecting through mythology
1:24:45 Ragnarok & Regeneration
This episode featured Sturla Ellingvåg & Jan-Ove Tuv and was filmed and edited by Bork Nerdrum.
The centerpiece was a reproduction of the painting "Tor's fight with the Giants" (1872) by Mårten Eskil Winge.
SHOUTOUT to our TOP SPONSORS!
Fergus Ryan
Matthias Proy
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Jul 1, 2023 • 1h 14min
Employing Symbols in Paintings - What to Do and Avoid to Make a Credible Story on the Canvas
Jan-Ove Tuv sits down with Jannik Hösel and William Heimdal to discuss how symbols should be treated in a narrative painting
👍✨ Support our show and get access to more than 200 exclusive posts:
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Chapter markers:
00:00 Symbolism must be grounded in reality
03:03 Can you paint dragons and angels?
10:58 Psychological tension without obvious symbols
13:56 Faithful to biblical stories?
22:05 The case for illustration
26:49 Andrew Wyeth and the miracle of the everyday
27:44 Follow your character
32:39 The mythic potential of the motif
34:18 Archetypes and manipulating proportions: a platonic approach?
38:41 Natural, not intellectual symbols
45:52 Allegories
48:07 Theophanes' icons and contour lines
50:40 Paradise is present
54:46 Attributing symbolic value to things
58:48 Sometimes the face is enough (Olga Boznanska)
1:01:45 Why masterpieces are always calm
1:07:11 Christ crucified… in Eden
This episode featured Ruben Hanssen & Carl Korsnes and was filmed and edited by Bork Nerdrum.
The centerpiece was a photograph of Azaria Civic Hall in Cayala, Guatemala by Ruben Hanssen.
SHOUTOUT to our TOP SPONSORS!
Fergus Ryan
Matthias Proy
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