The Norwegian artist Kjell Nupen, who has died aged 58 from cancer, was a leading figure in Scandinavian culture. With his expressive technique and lyrical approach to nature, not to mention an element of angst, he developed a definite Nordic identity. He was inspired by Edvard Munch, as well as Norwegian folk art and the Danish painter Asger Jorn, and yet his career had its contradictions. In his youth during the 1970s he was influenced by politically engaged artists in Germany, but his later work was more soothing. Ultimately, a man who was linked to both Gerhard Richter and Queen Sonja of Norway is hard to pigeonhole.
Nupen was born in Kristiansand, in southern Norway. Although he made forays to other cities, he spent much of his life in this region, adorning the town with sculptures and reflecting its maritime light and setting in his paintings. In 1972 he left Kristiansand for Oslo, where he entered the National Academy of Fine Art and exhibited his works for the first time in the capital's annual autumn show.