Elna Vilhelmine Fonnesbech-Sandberg née Riegels (1892–1994) was a successful Danish art collector who later became a painter herself. By the late 1929s, she had put together an extensive collection of Danish Modernist and

Expressionist Expressionism is a modernist movement, initially in poetry and painting, originating in Northern Europe around the beginning of the 20th century. Its typical trait is to present the world solely from a subjective perspective, distorting it rad ...

works but had to sell them when struck by austerity during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. Shortly afterwards, encouraged by her close friend Asger Jorn, she embarked on a new collection of the abstract works of young Danish painters who became members of the CoBrA movement. She exhibited them in her home in Frederiksberg which developed into a popular meeting place for those interested in the latest trends. In 1947, Fonnesbech-Sandberg became a painter herself, joining the group of abstract painters known as Spiralen.

Early life and family

Born in Copenhagen on 22 March 1892, Elna Vilhelmine Riegels was the daughter of the businessman Jacob Frederik Vilhelm Riegels (1863–1943) and his wife Mathilde Marie Pouline née Hansson (1862–1932). Raised in a well-to-do family in Frederiksberg, she studied history of art at the University of Copenhagen. In August 1918, she married the tea merchant Torben Fonnesbech-Sandberg (1891–1974) with whom she had a son Ib (1920). The marriage was dissolved in 1945. In June 1949, she married the painter Niels Jensen (born 1912).

Career

As a child, Elna Riegels had shown interest in collecting paintings, especially Japanese reproductions but lost interest when she realized she could not afford to buy the originals. After studying history of art, she turned her attention to modern art and began to collect paintings by a range of Danish artists including , Harald Giersing,

Karl Isakson Karl Oscar Isakson (16 January 1878, in Stockholm – 19 February 1922) was a Swedish painter who spent much of his professional life in Denmark where he is considered to be one of the fathers of Modernism. He had close associations with the Bor ...

Søren Hjorth Nielsen Søren Hjorth Nielsen (2 August 1901 – 7 July 1983) was a Danish painter and illustrator. He is remembered for his paintings of the allotments and outskirts of Copenhagen and later for his landscapes of the Bramsnæs Vig area in northwestern Zeal ...

, Niels Lergaard,

Vilhelm Lundstrøm Vilhelm Lundstrøm (26 May 1893 – 9 May 1950) was a Danish modernist painter. He was a central figure in early Danish experimental art and introduced French cubism to Denmark. Biography Vilhelm Henry Lundstrøm was born in Copenhagen, Den ...

Olaf Rude Olaf Rude (26 April 1886 – 17 June 1957) was a Art of Denmark, Danish painter. He was a professor at the Royal Danish Academy of Art from 1953 to 1956. He is remembered in particular for his paintings of oak trees at Skejten on Lolland, two of ...

William Scharff Niels William Scharff (30 October 1886– 20 September 1959) was a Danish painter, one of the leading proponents of Cubism in Denmark. Early life After training as a painter at Copenhagen's Technical School, Scharff attended Kristian Zahrtmann' ...

Jens Søndergaard Jens Søndergaard (October 4, 1895 – May 21, 1957) was a Danish expressionist painter. He specialised in strongly coloured landscapes depicting his feelings for the power of nature and the sea. Søndergaard won both national and international ...

and Edvard Weie. After her husband's tea business began to suffer from the effects of World War II, in 1940 Fonnesbech-Sandberg was forced into selling her collection in order to support the family's well-being. Soon afterwards she developed a close relationship with Asger Jorn and began making a new and even more impressive collection, not only of Jorn's paintings but of those of his friends who included

Else Alfelt Else Alfelt (16 September 1910 – 9 August 1974) was a Danish artist who specialized in abstract paintings. She was one of two female members of the CoBrA movement. She was married to Carl-Henning Pedersen, another prominent CoBrA member. Earl ...

, Ejler Bille,

Egill Jacobsen Egill Jacobsen (16 December 1910 – 21 April 1998) was a Danish painter who became a professor at the Royal Danish Academy. Biography Born in Copenhagen, Jacobsen studied painting at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts under Kræsten Iversen ...

and

Carl-Henning Pedersen Carl-Henning Pedersen (23 September 1913 – 20 February 2007) was a Danish painter and a key member of the COBRA movement. He was known as the "Scandinavian Chagall", and was one of the leading Danish artists of the second half of the 20th ...

. They became known as the Danish members of the CoBrA movement. As a painter in her own right, Fonnesbech-Sandberg was inspired by her CoBrA friends. She later developed an ornamental style using colour to achieve an enamel effect. Elna Fonnesbech-Sandberg died on 6 March 1994 in Gentofte. In 2023 her work was included in the exhibition '' Action, Gesture, Paint: Women Artists and Global Abstraction 1940-1970'' at the

Whitechapel Gallery The Whitechapel Gallery is a public art gallery in Whitechapel on the north side of Whitechapel High Street, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. The original building, designed by Charles Harrison Townsend, opened in 1901 as one of the fir ...

in London.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fonnesbech-Sandberg, Elna 1892 births 1994 deaths Artists from Copenhagen Danish art collectors Women art collectors 20th-century Danish painters 20th-century Danish women artists Danish abstract painters University of Copenhagen alumni Women centenarians Danish centenarians