The Essence of Colour. The art of Queen Margrethe II of Denmark

On 28th January 2012 the Museum of Modern Art ARKEN, (Denmark) opens the doors to the exhibition The essence of colour. The Art of Queen Margrethe II. This is the biggest exhibition hitherto of the Queen’s art, where the public can follow her artistic development over the past 35 years. Over 130 acrylic paintings, water-colours and découpages are presented  -including a series of brand new works that have never before been shown to the public.

The Queen's works reflect a special relationship with history and the present. This is most clearly seen in the découpages; compositions of cuttings from art periodicals and art sale catalogues, teeming with references to the history of style and architectural details that create a setting for a burlesque sense of humour. The découpages have been used among other ways as scenery in the filming of The Snow Queen and The Wild Swans by Hans Christian Andersen, where they have evoked a fascinating, highly distinctive pictorial universe.

In her most recent works the Queen moves from the large landscapes to small natural fragments and "zooms in" on individual elements such as rocks, carcases and bones. The bone series is brand new and has never been exhibited before. The urge to paint bones came irresistibly, just as the urge to paint stones and carcases was  something inherent that simply had to come to expression through the brush.

Date: until July 1.
Place: ARKEN. Museum of Modern Art. Skovvej 100. 2635 Ishøj. Denmark
Opening hours: from Tuesday to Sunday from 10am to 5pm. Wednesdays from 10am to 9pm.