Happy Birthday

Spectacular 150th birthday greetings to ARoS from: - Ingvar Cronhammar - Olafur Eliasson - Erik A. Frandsen - Per Kirkeby - Michael Kvium - John Kørner - Julie Nord - Bjørn Nørgaard - Hanne Nielsen - Birgit Johnsen.

In spring 2009, the artists were let loose in the museum's storerooms among the many paintings, sculptures, installations, videos, photos and drawings, most of which are rarely exhibited. Each artist was given a 6x6x6 metre cube in which to stage the selected works - naturally with a strong personal touch from each artist. Based on the number of works, only a small part of the extensive collection became part of the exhibition.

There are many reasons why some works rarely or never see the light of day, even though as individual works they are central to both the museum's collection and Danish art history. Preserving cultural heritage is an important task for Danish museums. Therefore, it is crucial that museums like ARoS take care of the collection as a whole, even if many works do not immediately fit in with the artistic views of changing times.

The museum's paintings by Vilhelm Hammershøi are a shining example of how a lack of artistic quality does not necessarily condemn works from the exhibition halls. For decades, his greyscale paintings with moody motifs were dismissed until the view of his art changed abruptly at the end of the 20th century and the artist had a major international breakthrough with exhibitions all over the world.