In the Nordic countries, where nature has a strong position both within art and in everyday life, abstract art attained a lyrical idiom of its own. Many of the Nordic artists have taken nature as a starting point for abstract images. In contrast to the classical, large scale landscape painting, these paintings conveyed atmospheres or specific phenomena of nature, such as forest floors, rocks, sun light or snow.

A more political art
Public debate in the post-war era was increasingly polarised, and in the 1960’s developed into a youth revolt in Europe and the US. For many artists art became a powerful medium of expression, often criticising those in power.