Bjørn Nørgaard - Kartoner til Dronningens Gobeliner

In 2007, ARoS Aarhus Art Museum had the unique opportunity to show the public the large, original cartons for artist Bjørn Nørgaard's extensive tapestry decoration created on the occasion of Queen Margrethe's 50th birthday for the Great Hall at Christiansborg Palace.

The cartons, which are the same size as the woven tapestries, were on display at ARoS from 16 June to 9 September 2007. In the special exhibition gallery at ARoS, visitors were able to see all 17 original cartons in a hanging that was proportionally similar to the hanging in the Knights' Hall.

In addition to the cartons, a number of the drawings and models that Bjørn Nørgaard used in the process of creating the finished works were also on display.

Museum Director Jens Erik Sørensen said: "We are incredibly pleased to have been given the opportunity to show the audience the original tapestry cartoons. Not least because ARoS owns Bjørn Nørgaard's masterpiece from 1970, "Hesteofring". Many people are surprised that the same artist created both Hesteofring and the Queen's tapestries, but in reality they are two sides of the same coin: Both actualise art in a new way and bring history to the present."

The tapestries depict the sometimes dramatic history of Denmark in 11 large pictorial narratives and 6 centrepieces. This was the task Bjørn Nørgaard set himself when the idea arose that the Queen should have new tapestries for the Great Hall in honour of Her Majesty's 50th birthday. Bjørn Nørgaard created his large narrative tapestry in the years 1988-1997. 1000 years of history depicted in themes around the Viking Age, the Middle Ages, the Reformation, the Nobility, Enevælde, Glyksborgere, Present and Future. Each of the large works is almost 4 metres high and up to 7 metres wide.

The working method was that Bjørn Nørgaard made drawings of each part of the work and prepared the overall structure for each individual image. In his workshop, these images were then transferred to the large cardboard boxes in a 1:1 scale and, according to the artist's instructions, they were given precise colour shades so that they could be used directly as a basis for weaving.

Bjørn Nørgaard's works were then transformed into woven tapestries according to the fine old tradition at the French tapestry factories Manufactures nationale des Gobelins et de Beauvais in Paris. The weaving process took over half a dozen years until 2000, when the tapestries could finally be hung in their permanent place at Christiansborg Palace. Bjørn Nørgaard's own original cartoons, on the other hand, went to the Køge Art Museum's Sketch Collection. With the help of the Joint Conservation Centre, the pictures were prepared so that ARoS' guests had the chance to experience them.