1847 - 1900

1847
On 24 March, the Aarhus Art Association of 1847 is founded as the first of its kind in Denmark outside the capital. The founder and board are: Christian Weis, M.D.; Christian Gad, pastor; Christian Otterstrøm, chancellor; Emmerik Høegh-Guldberg, assistant professor; LS Fabricius, bank accountant; G. Bauditz, first lieutenant.

1852
After several years of inactivity during the First Schleswig War (1848–51) and a subsequent dissolution, the Aarhus Art Association resumes operation.

1854
Up until this point, the works purchased by the art association have been distributed to members as prizes, but now plans for a permanent collection are being discussed for the first time. Also, The National Public Collections (now the National Gallery of Denmark) pledges to lend twenty-four paintings to the association. The art association buys its first three paintings for its permanent collection. All three are still part of the AroS collection: Jørgen Sonne, Scene by a Well in a Neapolitan Town. Evening, 1845. Christian David Gebauer, The Wild Stud Farm, 1831. Emil Holm, A Model Figure, 1854.

1857
Moving to its third location, the new Aarhus City Hall is inaugurated on 29 December. The building now houses KØN – Gender Museum Denmark.

1859
Denmark’s rst-ever exhibition of a museum collection outside Copenhagen opens in Aarhus on 6 January. It takes place at the Aarhus City Hall in attic rooms specially rearranged to house the twenty-four paintings borrowed from the National Public Collections as well as the few works already acquired for the permanent collection. Later that year, the exhibition is expanded to encompass the entire attic oor. This is often considered as the starting point of what would later become Aarhus Art Museum.

1861
The Historical-Antiquarian Society is established with the aim of collecting objects and art for a future museum in Aarhus. The intention is to have the new museum show collections of art, casts, coins, natural history artefacts, ancient objects, books and more.

1862
The local newspaper Aarhus Stiftstidende prints its firstever mention of the Aarhus Collection of Paintings, announcing that the collection has been built by the Aarhus Art Association of 1847 and can be viewed at Aarhus City Hall ‘all year round every Sunday and also, from 1 April to 1 October, every Thursday from 11 to 1.”

1863
King Frederik VII becomes the patron of the Historical-Antiquarian Society. He donates a metal cast of a Bronze Age lur to the collection.

1867
Financial support from the city and county authorities makes it possible to make plans for the future. The City of Aarhus also donates a work to the collection, which would later become one of ARoS' most iconic works: Jørgen Sonne, Cavalry Skirmish near Aarhus 31 May 1849, 1853.

1872
An exhibition is held to raise funds for a planned new museum building intended to house the collections of paintings and casts, the historical-antiquarian collection and the diocesan library. The people of Aarhus are encouraged to support the project, giving a total of DKK 38,000 in private donations. The national treasury provides DKK 10,000, a further DKK 2,000 is received from foundations, while DKK 12,000 is taken out as a loan.

1873
The miller A.S. Weis donates a building site at Mølleengen (by the present-day Mølleparken) to the museum. Over the coming years, money for the building is raised concurrently with the actual construction work.

1877
On 20 May, the Århus Museum (designed by architect V. Th. Walther) is officially opened to the public on Vester Allé / Museumsgade in the building which now houses Levende Musik i Skolen. However, the influx of objects means that the building quickly proves too small for its purpose. Over time, parts of the collection are moved elsewhere, forming the basis for the collections at the city’s Natural History Museum, the Museum of Ancient Art and the Moesgaard Museum.

1901 - 1983

1925
The museum acquires Harald Giersing’s Young Lady in Pale Blue, 1918. The purchase apparently caused a stir on the board as its members disagreed on the work’s merit. The painting is now ranked among ARoS’ main masterpieces of Danish modernism.

1955
Art historian Else Kai Sass (1912–1987) was appointed professor of art history at Århus University in 1954, and in 1955 the obligation to manage the Århus Museum art collection became attached to the position. She performs this duty until 1961. As the first head of the collection to hold a degree in art history, she becomes the driving force behind the foundation of an actual Århus Art Museum in a new building and location.

1958
A plot of land in Vennelystparken is donated by the city of Århus for the construction of a new Århus Art Museum.

1961
Museum director Minna Heimbürger takes over the management of the future Århus Art Museum, which obtains building permission in 1964.

1967
In September, the Aarhus Art Museum opens to the public in a three-winged yellow brick building designed by architects C.F. Møller. The building is located in Vennelystparken in the lower part of the Århus University Park.

1969
Kristian Jakobsen is appointed director of the museum. He remains in the post until 1982.

1980
Purchase of the first jam jar from Bjørn Nørgaard’s highly controversial work The Horse Sacrifice, 1970, which consists of a total of 199 jam jars with parts from a slaughtered horse, as well as the video documentation of the performative slaughter. Parts of the work are bought by Danish museums, including the National Gallery of Denmark and Randers Art Museum. In 2023, the ARoS collection owns 116 jars, which, together with the video documentation, constitute a major landmark within Danish contemporary art.

1982
Lise Funder takes over as director and serves until 1984.

1984 - 2003

1984
Jens Erik Sørensen becomes the new director of Aarhus Art Museum.

1989
The museum has once again outgrown its building. After several years of efforts to set up a new, modern art museum with space and facilities for the more demanding art of a new age (installations and video art), it is decided that a new museum will be sited at Vester Allé.

1997
The architectural firm Schmidt Hammer Lassen wins the design competition for a new art museum.

2000
On 13 September, ground is broken for the new art museum.

2002
The topping-out ceremony for the new building is held on 24 October.

2003
Århus Art Museum changes its name to ARoS Århus Art Museum.

2004 - 2013

2004
On 7 April, ARoS Århus Art Museum is officially inaugurated at Aros Allé 2 in the presence of royalty. The next day the museum is declared open to the public. Guests can explore nine floors of national and international art, including special exhibitions, installation art and permanent displays of new and older art. The newly acquired sculpture Boy by Ron Mueck quickly becomes a much-loved icon for the new museum.

2007
The internationally acclaimed artist Olafur Eliasson wins the international competition for a roof project on top of ARoS.

2009
Sculpture by the Sea is held for the first time in Århus, featuring more than sixty artists from Denmark and abroad. At the suggestion of the then-Crown Prince couple, HRH Crown Prince Frederik and HRH Crown Princess Mary, who had viewed Sculpture by the Sea in Sydney in 2000, director Jens Erik Sørensen together with Aarhus Municipality brings the event to Aarhus in a Danish-Australian collaboration. The sculptures were on public display along the water from Tangkrogen to Ballehage from 5 to 28 June.

2011
After several years of intense work, Olafur Eliasson’s Your rainbow panorama is officially inaugurated in May. Donated by Realdania, the work is placed on the rooftop of ARoS, giving the cube-shaped building a distinctive new look. The ‘Rainbow’ becomes a major landmark for the city and a tourist attraction in itself.

2011-13
The popular Sculpture by the Sea events are held for the second and third time, once again along the coast from Tangkrogen to Ballehage. Danish and international artists challenge the visitors’ notions of what a sculpture is and can be, all while providing a completely new framework for encounters with art.

2013
Completing Olafur Eliasson’s original plans for the top of ARoS, a roof pavilion with two lounges is inaugurated in November, providing direct access from the museum to Your rainbow panorama. The project is sponsored by the Herman Sallings Fond and also includes a new work by Eliasson for the collection: Your condensation.

2014 - 2024

2014
Norwegian Erlend Høyersten takes over the chair as director of ARoS after Jens Erik Sørensen who steps down after 30 years at the helm. The plans for an expansion of ARoS, adding a Skyspace by the American artist James Turrell and a new exhibition gallery, are announced.

2015
The fourth and final Sculpture by the Sea is held on 5 June – 5 July, showing sculptures along the water.

2016
ARoS presents ARoS Public, an entire level dedicated to the dissemination of art. It includes interactive, digital ways of approaching the museum’s art collection, a salon for public debates, and an artist-in-residency programme where artists work in an open workshop accessible to the public. The initiatives are sponsored by the Nordea Foundation and the City of Aarhus.

2017
In collaboration with Aarhus 2017 – European Capital of Culture, ARoS presents the extensive exhibition ARoS Triennial: The Garden – End of Times, Beginning of Time, which extends over two galleries and the roof of ARoS as well as several locations in Aarhus city and along the Tangkrogen– Ballehage route. Among other things, works are displayed on a façade at Vester Allé, at the O Space exhibition venue at Aarhus harbour, the Museum of Natural History, the Memorial Park, the nightclub Shen Mao (permanent installation), Kulbroen and in an industrial building on Østhavnsvej. The artwork Asphalt Air and Hair by German artist Katharina Grosse arouses particularly fierce debate. The artist paints a section of the landscape from Tangkrogen towards the Marselisborg Memorial Park in vivid pink and white, and even though the project has been approved by the environmental authorities, it triggers a heated discussion about the role of contemporary art in society, about the protection of nature and not least about what ‘nature’ really means in a manmade city environment.

2020
The COVID-19 epidemic greatly aects Denmark. All schools, ‘non-critical’ workplaces and institutions are closed on 11 March and a ban on public gatherings is introduced. The shutdown, which also includes all cultural institutions, is initially expected to last for two weeks. However, not until 22 May was the museum able to once again open its doors to the public, presenting exhibitions such as Mythologies – The Beginning and End of Civilizations, which spanned levels 5 and 1. The year’s second corona shutdown in December hits the exhibitions JORN / KIRKEBY and Jonah Freeman and Justin Lowe – COLONY SOUND particularly hard. Both are open for only very short periods.

2021
British Rebecca Matthews takes over as the new director of ARoS. Work begins on a new vision plan for the museum as it heads towards 2033.

2022
On 15 June, ground is broken for The Next Level, which includes The Dome, a Skyspace by James Turrell, a new exhibition gallery and an Art Square for outdoor art activities.

2023
A topping-out ceremony is held for the people of Aarhus for the art work The Dome, a Skyspace by James Turrell. This new expansion of ARoS is expected to open to the public in the summer of 2025.

2024
ARoS celebrates 20 years in the current museum building with a special anniversary weekend 6-7 April and the exhibition Ron Mueck - Art & Life bringing the beloved sculpture Boy together with A Girl and Woman with Shopping.