After publishing her true story, she became famous. Barbora goes to the trial in hopes of finding clues, but instead she ends up asking the thief if she can paint a portrait of him. The scene is reminiscent of a passage in Ben Lerner’s Leaving the Atocha Station, in which the protagonist, Adam, witnesses another man break “suddenly into tears, convulsively catching his breath” while looking at Roger Van der Weyden’s Descent From the Cross in the Prado Museum. An artist befriends the thief who stole her paintings. Stars: Barbora Kysilkova, Karl Bertil-Nordland, Øystein Stene. The titular painter is Barbora Kysilkova, a young Czech woman who painstakingly reproduces photographic images in oils. When two of artist Barbora Kysilkova’s most valuable paintings are stolen from a gallery at Frogner in Oslo, the police are able to find the thief after a few days, but the paintings are nowhere to be found. Barbora Kysilkova's painting 'Chloe and Emma' (Neon/Hulu) The connection grew deeper when she confronted him. I’d probably awkwardly avoid eye-contact with him, as if by doing so I could avoid further injury. Czech artist Barbora Kysilkova was as surprised as anyone when she received a phone call in 2015 informing her that thieves had stolen two of her paintings from a gallery in Oslo, Norway. Also featured in the exhibition is Chloe & Emma, a 2013 photorealistic oil painting by Barbora Kysilkova that was stolen from an Oslo gallery in April 2015. Mission Santa Barbara. He was bored of portraying introverted people and “wanted to film people whose emotions were on the outside.” He read about the art theft in the Norwegian newspapers, and Kysilkova agreed to let him film her fourth-ever meeting with Nordland. The two people at the heart of the story—Barbora Kysilkova and Karl-Bertil Nordland—became close friends after he was arrested in 2015 for breaking into the Gallery Nobel in Oslo and stealing two valuable paintings that she made. It is also the recipient of the 2020 Sundance Film Festival. This item: The Painter and the Thief by Barbora Kysilkova DVD $21.56. First, Karl Bertil-Nordland tried to steal Barbora Kysilkova’s paintings, then he became the subject of them. Finally, after several days, it’s finished: The Swan Song. Page 1 of 1 Start over Page 1 of 1 . And sometimes, art pays. It turns out to be an unexpected tale of redemption for both of them. When two of artist Barbora Kysilkova’s most valuable paintings are stolen from a gallery at Frogner in Oslo, the police are able to find the thief after a few days, but the paintings are nowhere to be found. Barbora goes to the trial in hopes of finding clues, but instead she ends up asking the thief if she can paint a portrait of him. Directed by Benjamin Ree. Desperate for answers about the theft of two of her most precious paintings, Czech artist Barbora Kysilkova seeks out and befriends the career criminal who stole them. United States. Filmmaker Benjamin Ree has a niche obsession with art thievery – apparently not that rare an occurrence in Norway – and so contacted Barbora Kysilkova immediately when he came across her theft. Kysilkova and Nordland, who were both in their 30s when this film was made, did not know each other prior to the crime. The presented framings, were made in addition to a full-frame picture of the painting, and are my 'take' on the 'Picture of a Picture' subject. “It doesn’t make sense that somebody would steal my paintings,” says Czech artist Barbora Kysilkova. Over the course of his recovery, Nordland looks like a completely different person: Once a sketchy and bespectacled gangster, by the end he has a man bun and resembles a Viking hunk. Kysilkova is the renowned woman from the documentary film, “The Painter and the Thief”. "It's like I dropped all my weapons that I possibly could have. It turns out to be an unexpected tale of redemption for both of them. Member of Norske Biledkunstnere and Unge Kunstneres Samfunn. I was quite surprised by how young Benjamin was, and how great an impression he made on me. The movie was only supposed to be 10 minutes long, but Kysilkova and Nordland were so good in front of the camera that it became a feature: “They are not self-aware,” Ree said. After Karl-Bertil Nordland stole two of Barbora Kysilkova’s paintings from a gallery in Oslo, an unusual friendship was forged Books, arts and culture Prospero May 22nd 2020 The Painter and the Thief documentary makes its New Zealand premiere at Doc Edge at The Civic on Sunday 22 November before its theatrical release in 2021. Between them, the painter and the thief build a third thing: a relationship, which becomes a mysterious source of creative inspiration for them both. The Painter and the Thief is the story of how Norwegian painter Barbora Kysilkova befriended the man who stole her works from a gallery in Oslo. BARBORA KYSILKOVA: The starting point was just my curiosity. The Painter and the Thief is a 2020 Norwegian documentary film directed by Benjamin Ree. A little mistrustful at first, Nordland agrees to sit for Kysilkova, who sketches his skinny frame as he explains how he was abandoned by his mother and got hooked on drugs, and thence to crime. Barbara Piatti. This will be the start of a very unusual friendship. Kysilkova and Nordland, who were both in their 30s when this film was made, did not know each other prior to the crime. “They are natural and authentic.”. Their relationship went through many changes from there. Ree’s documentary falls in a tradition of intensely emotional art that worries at the boundaries between artist and subject, fiction and reality. Synopsis. She becomes his closest ally when he is severely hurt in a car crash and needs full time care, even if her paintings are not found. The documentary follows the emerging friendship between the painter and her subject. “The Painter and the Thief” is a dispatch from the space where a man’s life and his portrait intersect. It’s hard to imagine what you’d do in Barbora’s shoes, when confronted with the thief who stole two of your best paintings (and says he forgot where he put them). When two paintings by Czech naturalist Barbora Kysilkova are stolen from an Oslo art gallery, Norwegian authorities quickly identify and arrest the two thieves but find no trace of the paintings. After his arrest, Kysilkova confronts him gingerly in the courtroom about the whereabouts of The Swan Song. The two thieves, whose unhurried heist is captured by surveillance cameras, are caught. Benjamin Ree, courtesy of Medieoperatørene. Details. Or I’d try to be magnanimous and forgiving, with little success. BARBORA KYSILKOVÁ (*1983) je česká umělkyně působící v Berlíně. Before Barbora Kysilkova ever met the man who stole her paintings, she knew she wanted to paint him. Kysilkova is a talented painter… Release date, December 26. Ships from and sold by Amazon.com. Kysilkova and Nordland are engaged in a symbiotic relationship facilitated by art. HFLF: What gave you the initial idea to approach Bertil and document it? Barbora Kysilkova: Well, let’s begin with the day of the robbery, itself, when the gallery contacted me and said, “Hey, good morning Barbora.