THE HISTORY OF ARoS
Four different buildings in Århus have been home to Aarhus Kunstmuseum since it was founded in 1859. ARoS Aarhus Kunstmuseum in Aros Allé at the heart of Århus is the fourth. It all began on 6 January 1859 when Aarhus Kunstmuseum opened in a loft room in the newly built Town Hall cum Courthouse cum County Gaol, with Århus Cathedral as its nearest neighbour. Indeed, the foundation for the museum had been secured twelve years previously with the founding of the Aarhus Art Society of 1847. Barely twenty years later, on Whitsunday, 20 May 1877, the nation’s first museum outside Copenhagen opened its doors to the public: Aarhus Museum, designed by W. Th. Walther. In 1890, the museum became an independent institution, and was expanded the following year through the addition of two side pavilions designed by one of the country’s leading architects, Vilhelm Dahlerup.
Dissatisfaction with Vennelystparken
Over the following decades, it became clear that the building was too small and in 1958 Århus City Council concurred with the art museum’s expansion plans, providing a site in the southernmost corner of the University Park for the construction of a new building. The new “Kunstmuseum in Vennelystparken” – the creation of the architect responsible for Århus University, C.F.Møller – was officially opened in 1967. But no sooner was the inauguration ceremony over than the building began to attract criticism and, within a few years, dissatisfaction with the insufficiency of space in the buildings in Vennelystparken led to talk of a new Aarhus Kunstmuseum. These aspirations were not diminished by the appointment of Kristian Jakobsen MA as Museum Director. Conversant as he was with contemporary currents on the Danish art scene and abroad, he wanted to make more recent art available to a wider public.
With Kristian Jakobsen’s subsequent appointment as Director of Kunstindustrimuseet (the Museum of Decorative Art) in Copenhagen, in 1982, it was Lise Funder MA who as Director would be thrilled to hear Mayor Thorkild Simonsen (later to become Minister for the Interior) declare on the occasion of the museum’s 125 years jubilee on 6 January 1984 that the City Council was prepared to make the museum the gift of a site for a new art museum.
A dynamic picture gallery
In an interview given on his appointment as Museum Director on 1 December 1984, Jens Erik Sørensen declared that his “most ardent wish” was for a new art museum – a “dynamic picture gallery”. Århus City Council shared this ambition and sought to have the new museum sited where the pulse of the city is most palpable – near the Concert Hall Aarhus, Officersbygningen (the Officers’ Building) and Ridehuset. Fattiggårdsbakken (the Poorhouse Hill) so-called, near Vesterallé was named as the site for the upcoming new art museum. In September 1995, the City Council agreed the proposed new museum and donated the site on Vester Allé. Århus County Council encouraged the plan further through an interest-free loan of DKK 60m with exemption from repayment.
A group supporting the project, which included representatives from the corporate sector – and later also from the royal family with Queen Margrethe II, Prince Henrik and Prince Frederik pledging their interest – offered both moral and financial support. And in early summer 1996, the New Carlsberg Foundation made a spectacular donation of DKK 40m over a ten-year period, designated for the purchase of art of an international standard. Optimism had reached new heights and May 1997 saw the launch of an architecture competition. In all, 110 architects from across the world took part. The winner was the Århus-based practice Schmidt, Hammer & Lassen.
An enhanced budget for operational expenses
In 1999 Aarhus Kunstmuseum received a pledge from the state to provide an annual grant of DKK 8.4m towards operational costs – a sixfold increase in the state contribution to the operating budget. The Municipality declared itself prepared to match the state grant, and when the County Council took the unprecedented step of doing the same, the operating budget for the museum fell into place. In terms of funding, the way forward for the new Aarhus Kunstmuseum now lay open – with Århus Municipality as the client in conjunction with Århus County and Aarhus Kunstmuseum. On 13 September 2000 at 13.00, the ceremonial sod was turned for the new art museum. On 22 January 2003, the museum was given its new name. And on 7 April 2004 it will be officially opened.
The Art Museum’s Buildings:
Loft Århus Rådhus / now Kvindemuseet,
Domkirkepladsen à 1859 - 1877 Århus Museum / now Huset, Vesterallé à 1877 - 1967 Aarhus Kunstmuseum / now Aarhus University,
Vennelystparken à 1967 - 2003 ARoS Aarhus Kunstmuseum, Vesterallé à 2004 –
