Over the last twenty years, the desire of an ever growing number of young artists to learn how to paint in a traditional way has resulted in an international revival of the lost language of oil painting, and the rehabilitation of the concept of beauty. It is a quiet group, working out of the limelight of mainstream cultural institutions. Their increasing success and praise from the public are not measured by shock, controversy or hype, but rather through the silences and reflection their art inspires, and their increasing exposure at important galle¬ries and museums worldwide.
One of these artists is Urban Larsson, born in Stockholm in 1966, who has lived and worked in Amsterdam for the last fifteen years. Urban studied in Florence at Studio Cecil & Graves, the only atelier in Europe where traditional figurative painting was taught. As well as portraits, he paints still lifes, landscapes and nudes. Striving for beauty and universal human values, he paints only from life, and in a tradition that has evolved over more than four centuries - sight-size. Urban has exhibited throughout Europe and in the United States to much acclaim. His portrait commissions are prestigious, for example, in 2002 he was commissioned to paint the official portrait of the former Dutch Prime Minister, Wim Kok.
This book gives an overview of oil paintings made by this Swedish artist between 1991 and 2006. It includes more than 100 colour illustrations, two essays and an interview between the well-known art historian and art critic John T. Spike and the artist.