Margrete Tora Drejer (1889–1975) was a Danish painter and

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 ...

who is remembered for the important part she played in teaching the art and history of sewing and textile decoration to women of all ages. Her own creations include textiles for churches as well as flags and banners.

Biography

Born on 13 October 1889 in

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...

, Margrete Tora Drejer was the daughter of the timber merchant Jens Nielsen Drejer (1845–1914) and Marie Hansen (1859–1943). She was brought up in a home on

Amager Amager ( or, especially among older speakers, ) in the Øresund is Denmark's most densely populated island, with more than 212,000 inhabitants (January 2021) a small appendage to Zealand. The protected natural area of ''Naturpark Amager'' (includi ...

, where both her mother and her grandmother were skilled embroiderers. Her elder sister, Valborg, was trained by Kristiane Konstantin-Hansen and Johanne Bindesbøll. In 1921, she moved with her mother and sister to

Brønshøj Brønshøj, part of the municipality of Copenhagen, forms, together with Husum, the administrative city district (''bydel'') of Brønshøj-Husum, in Denmark. History The first mention of the village Brønshøj (Brunshoga), is in a letter dated Oc ...

where she lived for the rest of her life. From 1904, Drejer spent four years at the

Tegne- og Kunstindustriskolen for Kvinder Tegne- og Kunstindustriskolen for Kvinder (literally Draftsmanship and Industrial Design School for Women but sometimes referred to as the Arts and Crafts School for Women) was a private Danish educational establishment in Copenhagen. From 1875, it ...

(Women's School for Drawing and Craftmanship) where she learned both painting and embroidery, including goldwork, hedebo and fiber work. After matriculating from highschool, she was admitted to 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 ...

in 1910 where she studied painting and decorative art under

Joakim Skovgaard Joakim Frederik Skovgaard (18 November 1856 – 9 March 1933) was a Danish painter. He is remembered above all for the frescos which decorate Viborg Cathedral. Biography Born in Copenhagen, from an early age he was trained in drawing and paintin ...

, graduating in 1914. She then taught embroidery in Clara Wæver's studio, also undertaking embroidery work on commission, especially flags and banners. From 1921 she taught both embroidery and painting at the Tegne- og Kunstindustriskolen for Kvinder. Together with the architect Gunnar Biilmann Petersen (1897–1968), she headed the school from 1924 to 1929. Drejer was a major contributor to the three-volume needlework lexicon ''Berlingske Haandarbejds-Bog'' in which she naturally covered goldwork and hedebo but also, rather surprisingly,

crochet Crochet (; ) is a process of creating textiles by using a crochet hook to interlock loops of yarn, thread (yarn), thread, or strands of other materials. The name is derived from the French term ''crochet'', meaning 'hook'. Hooks can be made from ...

. Together with Johanne Arnbech-Jensen, she also published ''Sting og Mønstre for Skole og Hjem'' (Stitches and Patterns for School and Home). Margrete Drejer died in

Frederiksberg Frederiksberg () is a part of the Capital Region of Denmark. It is formally an independent municipality, Frederiksberg Municipality, separate from Copenhagen Municipality, but both are a part of the City of Copenhagen. It occupies an area of ...

on 15 May 1975 and is buried in Sundby Cemetery.

References

1889 births 1975 deaths Artists from Copenhagen Danish textile artists Danish women artists Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts alumni Women textile artists Danish embroiderers {{denmark-artist-stub