Susanne Kurdahl

With her invigorating life energy, Danish (Copenhagen) contemporary artist Susanne Kurdahl Vesterheden (1967 - ) captivates us all with her colorful and tranquil landscape and floral paintings. 

Susanne's refined visual instinct burgeoned from a young age, revealing a deep connection with the vibrant world of florals and their multifarious artistic potential. Over the years, she has embraced various mediums, creating cherished floral arrangements, handmade paper florals, and since 2009, she has also created enchanting contemporary abstract paintings. Notably, Susanne’s delicate handmade paper florals are presented at prominent Danish museums, including The Hirschsprung Collection and the Museum of Karen Blixen.

The Nordic landscapes, abundant with wildflowers and breathtaking ocean views, have always been Susanne's wellspring of inspiration. It is within the exploration of the harmony and synchronicity between nature's raw beauty and delicate structures that she creatively thrives. She has found her personal contemporary style, where she skillfully embraces various abstraction levels and (floral) seasonality. With her full confidence, she will mix e.g. the rapeseed yellow of spring with the autumnal deep purples of heather, ensuring that each motive remains mesmerizing and intriguing.

"It's all about adding something - like a color - and creating a fresh harmony among the things you already have." - Susanne Kurdahl Vesterheden (2020)

Susanne's artistic signature lies not only in her consistent subject matter, which includes landscapes, seascapes, and florals but also in her playful and vibrant color palettes that are elevated through her unique layering method. Each painting is meticulously crafted, with various motifs carefully painted atop one another. This intentional layering is an important piece of Susanne's process as it allows the hidden depths and new perspectives of the paintings to be revealed gradually, and as such inviting viewers to embark on a visual journey of exploration and immersion.

The characteristic of Susanne's paintings is their ability to radiate a sense of joy, harmony, and tranquility, deeply resonating with both commercial and residential customers. Their allure draws collectors back time and again to acquire more of her creations, as they are captivated by the emotional connection her art evokes. 

(Artist bio provided by Gadé Allure)

Used to refer to a time rather than an aesthetic, Contemporary art generally describes pieces created after 1970 or being made by living artists anywhere in the world. This immediacy means it encompasses art responding to the present moment through diverse subjects, media and themes. Contemporary painting, sculpture, photography, performance, digital art, video and more frequently includes work that is attempting to reshape current ideas about what art can be, from Felix Gonzalez-Torres’s use of candy to memorialize a lover he lost to AIDS-related complications to Jenny Holzer’s ongoing “Truisms,” a Conceptual series that sees provocative messages printed on billboards, T-shirts, benches and other public places that exist outside of formal exhibitions and the conventional “white cube” of galleries.

Contemporary art has been pushing the boundaries of creative expression for years. Its disruption of the traditional concepts of art are often aiming to engage viewers in complex questions about identity, society and culture. In the latter part of the 20th century, contemporary movements included Land art, in which artists like Robert Smithson and Michael Heizer create large-scale, site-specific sculptures, installations and other works in soil and bodies of water; Sound art, with artists such as Christian Marclay and Susan Philipsz centering art on sonic experiences; and New Media art, in which mass media and digital culture inform the work of artists such as Nam June Paik and Rafaël Rozendaal.

The first decades of the 21st century have seen the growth of Contemporary African art, the revival of figurative painting, the emergence of street art and the rise of NFTs, unique digital artworks that are powered by blockchain technology.

Major Contemporary artists practicing now include Ai Weiwei, Cecily Brown, David Hockney, Yayoi Kusama, Jeff Koons, Takashi Murakami and Kara Walker.

Find a collection of Contemporary prints, photography, paintings, sculptures and other art on 1stDibs.

Painting is an art form that has spanned innumerable cultures, with artists using the medium to tell stories, explore and communicate ideas and express themselves. To bring abstract, landscape and still-life paintings into your home is to celebrate and share in the long tradition of this discipline.

When we look at paintings, particularly those that originated in the past, we learn about history, other cultures and countries of the world. Like every other work of art, paintings — whether they are contemporary creations or works that were made during the 19th century — can often help us clearly see and understand the world around us in a meaningful and interesting way.

Cave walls were the canvases for what were arguably the world’s first landscape paintings, which depict natural scenery through art. Portrait paintings and drawings, which, along with sculpture, were how someone’s appearance was recorded prior to the advent of photography, are at least as old as Ancient Egypt. In the Netherlands, landscapes were a major theme for painters as early as the 1500s. Later, artists in Greece, Rome and elsewhere created vast wall paintings to decorate stately homes, churches and tombs. Today, creating a wall of art is a wonderful way to enhance your space, showcase beautiful pieces and tie an interior design together.

No matter your preference, whether you favor Post-Impressionist paintings, animal paintings, Surrealism, Pop art or another movement or specific period, arranging art on a blank wall allows you to evoke emotions in a room while also showing off your tastes and interests. A symmetrical wall arrangement may comprise a grid of four to six pieces or, for an odd number of works, a horizontal row. Asymmetrical arrangements, which may be small clusters of art or large, salon-style gallery walls, have a more collected and eclectic feel. Download the 1stDibs app, which includes a handy “View on Wall” feature that allows you to see how a particular artwork will look on a particular wall, and read about how to arrange wall art. And if you’re searching for the perfect palette for your interior design project, what better place to turn than to the art world’s masters of color?

On 1stDibs, you’ll find an expansive collection of paintings and other fine art for your home or office. Browse abstract paintings, portrait paintings, paintings by popular artists and more today.