Per Barclays picture: «Lofoten 1», from 2010 will be a part of the exhibition.
Reprophoto: Jan Haug, Det kongelige hoff
There has often been a close linkage between the events of Queen Sonja’s life and the pictures she has bought. Her purchases are often characterized by a spontaneous enthusiasm for a passing situation. From an early age her interest has been drawn in particular to new and contemporary art. Henie Onstad Art Centre hosted an exhibition of H.M. Queen Sonja’s art collection in 2001. In the ten years since that event, her collection has grown. This new presentation contains works most of which will be new to the public – somee ighty pictures on the theme of landscape and space.
THREE JOURNEYS. THREE LANDSCAPES
H.M. Queen Sonja initiated this project in January 2011, together with the artists Kjell Nupen and Ørnulf Opdahl, and the director of Atelje Larsen in Helsingborg, Ole Larsen. The aims of the foundation are to stimulate interest in and to inspire the development of paper-based art, primarily by providing scholarships to young artists from the Nordic countries. The foundation is funded from the sale of print portfolios. The scholarship will be awarded every other year, starting in 2012.
In this portfolio of twenty-four intaglio prints, H.M. Queen Sonja, together with the two established artists Kjell Nupen and Ørnulf Opdahl, has experimented with various techniques and forms of expression.
For Kjell Nupen and Ørnulf Opdahl, the works in the portfolio represent an enduring preoccupation with certain techniques and with landscape as a subject. Landscape is also the theme of the works by Queen Sonja, all of which are based on photographs she took on Svalbard. The photographs were first transferred onto polymer plates and then engraved by the Queen herself.
For the Queen, the project is a response to a longstanding desire to found a scholarship fund for young artists. Many artists have expressed a wish to see the project established on a level that would allow the works involved to be shown to a broader public. The portfolio of prints will therefore be the central attraction of a major exhibition marking the 40th anniversary of Atelje Larsen at Dunkers Kulturhus in Helsingborg in November 2011. On 14 June 2012, the portfolio will be put on show at Henie Onstad Art Centre. After that, the prints will tour to a number of smaller exhibition venues around the country. A wide-ranging book will be produced in connection with the presentation of the portfolio in Norway. This will provide both an introduction to the fascinating world of printmaking and an account of how this project took shape.
Responsible for the exhibition is art historian and director emeritus at Henie Onstad Art Centre, Karin Hellandsjø.
