Bodil Marie Kaalund-Jørgensen (1930–2016) was an award-winning Danish painter,

textile artist Textile arts are arts and crafts that use plant, animal, or synthetic fibers to construct practical or decorative objects. Textiles have been a fundamental part of human life since the beginning of civilization. The methods and materials u ...

and writer, who is remembered above all for her artwork in Danish churches and for her Bible illustrations. She was also a major contributor to the recognition of Greenland's cultural heritage, thanks in part to her ''Grønlands Kunst'', published in English in 1983 as ''The Art of Greenland''.

Early life and education

Born in

Silkeborg Silkeborg () is a Danish town with a population of 49,747 (1 January 2022).Lyngby Kongens Lyngby (, Danish for "the King's Heather Town"; short form Lyngby) is the seat and commercial centre of Lyngby-Taarbæk Municipality in the northern suburbs of Copenhagen, Denmark. Lyngby Hovedgade is a busy shopping street and the site of ...

where she lived for the rest of her life. Kaalund attended the state school in Lyngby. In her early teens, she became interested in

religious art Religious art is artistic imagery using religious inspiration and motifs and is often intended to uplift the mind to the spiritual. Sacred art involves the ritual and cultic practices and practical and operative aspects of the path of the spiritu ...

. This was reinforced in 1946 when she discovered the work of

Edvard Munch Edvard Munch ( , ; 12 December 1863 – 23 January 1944) was a Norwegian painter. His best known work, ''The Scream'' (1893), has become one of Western art's most iconic images. His childhood was overshadowed by illness, bereavement and the dr ...

while on holiday in Norway. When she was just 18, she exhibited two landscape paintings at

Den Frie Udstilling Den Frie Udstilling ('The Free Exhibition') is a Danish artists' association, founded in 1891 by artists in protest against the admission requirements for the Kunsthal Charlottenborg. Modeled on the Salon des Refusés, it is Denmark's oldest asso ...

's autumn exhibition. After matriculating from high school, she studied at the

Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts The Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts ( da, Det Kongelige Danske Kunstakademi - Billedkunst Skolerne) has provided education in the arts for more than 250 years, playing its part in the development of the art of Denmark. History The Royal Dani ...

under

Kræsten Iversen Kristen "Kræsten" Iversen (, 26 January 1886 - 9 August 1955) was a Danish artist who is remembered both for his paintings and his painted glass windows. He was a member of the Bornholm school of painters and a professor at the Royal Danish Acad ...

, Holger J. Jensen and

Elof Risebye Elof Christian Risebye (3 April 1892 – 11 July 1961) was a Danish painter. He became known as the "painter of grief" (''sorgens maler'') for his paintings of coffins and corpses in the 1930s. Biography Born in the Frederiksberg district of Co ...

, graduating in 1954. In 1950, Kaalund married the painter Nikolaj Nielsen. They had one child together, Magnus, but the marriage was dissolved in 1976.

Career

While at the Royal Academy, Kaalund met the Greenlandic artist and writer

Jens Rosing Jens Christian Rosing (28 July 1925 – 24 May 2008) was a notable Greenlandic artist, author and storyteller. He designed the coat of arms of Greenland, many Greenlandic postage stamps, as well as illustrated children's books and created divers ...

. As a result, she developed a keen interest in the art and culture of Greenland. In 1968, she travelled there to arrange the first exhibition of Danish art ever held in Greenland. The following year, she went on the arrange an exhibition of Greenlandic art in Denmark in the

Louisiana Museum of Modern Art The Louisiana Museum of Modern Art is an art museum located on the shore of the Øresund Sound in Humlebæk, north of Copenhagen, Denmark. It is the most visited art museum in Denmark, and has an extensive permanent collection of modern and cont ...

. She later collaborated with

Hans Lynge Hans Lynge (born 1906 in Nuuk, died 1988 in Haderslev) was a Greenlandic writer, dramatist, painter, politician, printmaker, and sculptor. Many of his sculptures involve mothers or indigenous heroes, but he also did official sculptors of well known ...

to establish ''Grønlands Kunstskole'' (Greenland's Art School), which opened in 1972. In 1979, she published ''Grønlands kunst'' (translated as ''The Art of Greenland''), the first extensive work of its kind. Kaalund became recognized for her artwork with her painting ''Korsnedtagelsen'' (Descent from the Cross) in 1966. She became one of the first female artists to decorate churches when in 1972 she decorated the altar wall of Erlev Church on the island of Mors with a picture of Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane. In 1977, she decorated Lemvig Church in the west of

Jutland Jutland ( da, Jylland ; german: Jütland ; ang, Ēota land ), known anciently as the Cimbric or Cimbrian Peninsula ( la, Cimbricus Chersonesus; da, den Kimbriske Halvø, links=no or ; german: Kimbrische Halbinsel, links=no), is a peninsula of ...

, establishing a lasting relationship with the locality. She was instrumental in establishing the town's ''Museet for Religiøs Kunst'' (Museum for Religious Art) in 1994. She decorated a total of 27 churches including Solbjerg Church and

Hvidovre Hvidovre is the main town in Hvidovre Municipality, Denmark. The town, a suburb of Copenhagen, is about 10 km southwest of the capital's center. It is the 2nd biggest suburb of Copenhagen, only beaten by Frederiksberg. History Hvidovre has ...

's Strandmark Church. She also illustrated several religious works with Biblical scenes. He major work in this connected was the new authorized Danish edition of the Bible which was published in 1992. It contained 159 illustrations. The original watercolours can be seen in the Lemvig Museum of Religious Art. Many of them are based on scenes from the countryside around the

Limfjord The Limfjord (Danish language, common Danish: ''Limfjorden'' , in north Jutlandish dialect: ''Æ Limfjord'') is a shallow part of the sea, located in Denmark where it has been regarded as a fjord ever since Viking Age, Viking times. However, i ...

and the west coast of Denmark. Bodil Kaalund died in her sleep at her home in Lyngby on 22 December 2016.

Awards

Kaalund has received many awards, including the Greenlandic Cultural Prize (2000) and the Academy's

N. L. Høyen Medal The Høyen Medal is one of several medals awarded by the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts. It is named after Niels Laurits Høyen, known as the first Danish art historian. The N. L. Høyen Medal is awarded to art historians and other theorists, ar ...

(2002).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kaalund, Bodil 1930 births 2016 deaths 20th-century Danish women artists 20th-century Danish artists Danish painters Danish women painters Danish writers Danish women writers Danish textile artists Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts alumni People from Silkeborg Women textile artists People from Kongens Lyngby