Bilder fra et nordisk drama / Images of a Nordic Drama

In 1990, art collector Haakon Mehren found a large cache of artwork in a barn, painted by the forgotten Norwegian expressionist Aksel Waldemar Johannessen. The discovery triggered a David vs. Goliath Nordic drama. For 30 years, Mehren dedicated himself to the herculean task of getting Johannessen’s work onto the walls of the National Museum in Oslo and with that, into the official canon of Norwegian art. Mehren’s nemesis was smug museum director Knut Berg, who was prepared to resort to blackmail to sabotage an exhibition of the paintings of the proletariat, which were not to his taste. Meanwhile, Mehren seized every chance he had to promote Johannessen’s art. The film uses interviews and archive material to tell the story of a fierce collector who works tirelessly for his convictions. It also provides a trenchant look at the hubris and power dynamics within cultural institutions and a language that often deals in nothing but superlatives – disgust, fear, euphoria. Nobody is left cold by Johannessen’s work.