Franciska Clausen – Every Facet

ARoS unfolds Franciska Clausen as a central, diverse and influential Danish artist in a large-scale presentation of almost 200 works.

From 8 October 2022, ARoS presents the largest exhibition to date of the Danish artist Franciska Clausen (1899-1986), who is particularly known for being part of the artistic avant-garde of the early 20th century. Drawing on over 190 works, sketches, photographs, letters, archival material, and new research perspectives, Franciska Clausen - The Whole Picture illuminates Clausen's wide-ranging approach to art. As a range of different styles and themes, it shows us how Clausen embraced multiple artist identities that unfolded simultaneously.

- We are very proud to present this solo exhibition with Clausen. She is a unique Danish artist who can be characterised as Denmark's first international avant-garde artist. The exhibition at ARoS showcases Clausen's many facets, her distinct aesthetic sense and compositional skills, which make her relevant to a contemporary audience, says Rebecca Matthews, Director of ARoS.

Franciska Clausen - The Whole Picture is one of a series of classic exhibitions featuring Danish artists from the early 20th century. It is organised in collaboration with the exhibition's art consultant, post.doc. Inge Lise Mogensen Bech, who in connection with the exhibition at ARoS is publishing the first monograph on Clausen in 35 years with Forlaget Strandberg Publishing. Maria Kappel Blegvad from ARoS has spearheaded the creation of the exhibition.

- The exhibition emphasises Clausen as a "painter of diversity" who had the courage to go his own way despite resistance from a male-dominated art world, especially in Denmark. Today, Clausen has received the recognition she deserves, but parts of her late work - and especially her portraiture - have long been underexposed. We want to make up for this by showing previously unseen works and unknown aspects of Clausen's artistic work," says exhibition manager and curator Maria Kappel Blegvad, ARoS.

The exhibition focuses on seven themes: the avant-gardist, portrait painter, modernist, machine aesthete, surrealist, designer and poster artist Franciska Clausen. The different themes emphasise that there was not just one Franciska Clausen, but many versions of the same artistic soul that unfolded simultaneously through her art.

Franciska Clausen was born and raised in Aabenraa (when the town was German). She studied at Die Grossherzogliche sächsische Hochschule für bildende Kunst in Weimar, Germany (1916-17), at the Women's Academy in Munich (1918-19), at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts in Copenhagen, Denmark (1920-21) and under Hans Hofmann at the Hofmann Schule Fur Moderne Kunst in Munich (1921-22). She then sought private lessons with László Moholy-Nagy in Berlin (Sept.-Dec. 1922), with Alexander Archipenko in Berlin in 1923 and with Fernand Léger in Paris (1924-25).

Franciska Clausen described herself as an 'eye person' who insisted on painting from different theories and genres. With her sharp aesthetic eye, she transformed figurative elements as well as geometric shapes and colours into visually compelling and well-composed pictorial symphonies. She is at the centre of the leading avant-garde artists of the 1920s and 1930s, including László Moholy-Nagy, Alexander Archipenko and especially Fernand Léger, with whom she had a long-term love affair alongside their working relationship.

In 1929-30, she was a member of the artist group Cercle et Carré alongside Piet Mondrian and Robert and Sonia Delaunay, among others. Her artistic network and uncompromising exploration of the abstract idiom of art is therefore unique in a Danish context.

15. Juni Fonden

C.A.C. Fonden

Aage og Johanne Louis-Hansens Fond

Arne V. Schleschs Fond

Hoffman og Husmans Fond

Exhibition Manager:

Maria Kappel Blegvad: mkb@aros.dk / 2888 4774

For further information, please contact:

Astrid Ildor - asil@aros.dk - 61 90 49 42

Press photos can be downloaded free of charge by providing the name of the photographer.