Naja Salto (1945–2016) 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 her rich, brightly coloured

tapestries Tapestry is a form of textile art, traditionally woven by hand on a loom. Tapestry is weft-faced weaving, in which all the warp threads are hidden in the completed work, unlike most woven textiles, where both the warp and the weft threads may ...

, many depicting scenes of the sea and the sky.

Early life, education and family

Born 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 ...

on 22 November 1945, Naja Salto was the daughter of the painter and ceramist Axel Johannes Salto (1889–1961) and Gerda Åkesson (1909–92), also a painter and ceramist. She studied textile art at the Arts and Crafts School under Franka Rasmussen (1962–66). She later attended the Danish Theatre School where she studied

scenography Scenography (inclusive of scenic design, lighting design, sound design, costume design) is a practice of crafting stage environments or atmospheres. In the contemporary English usage, scenography is the combination of technological and material ...

(1972–76). With Sven Poulsson, whom she married in June 1967, she had a son,

Kasper Salto Kasper Salto (born 14 February 1967) is a Danish industrial designer, most known for his furniture designs. He is the grand son of painter, ceramist and writer Axel Salto. Biography Kasper Salto was born on 14 February 1967 in Copenhagen, Denm ...

, who became a furniture designer. The marriage was dissolved in 1969. In December 1989, she married the designer and silversmith Allan Scharff but was divorced in 1995. In June 1995, she married the auctioneer Jens Christian Thygesen.

Career

Salto began to weave while young, adopting both traditional and experimental techniques after opening her own workshop in 1966. She used increasingly vivid colours, depicting motifs from Nordic mythology as well as the sea. Her interest in scenography was reflected in her modern tapestries, some representing pictorial images, others adapted to church decoration. By the 1990s, she had initiated new approaches to textile art in Denmark. She also created works in stained glass. In later years, she moved from tapestry to painting. Salto was one of the artists who contributed to Haandarbejdets Fremme (Danish Handcraft Guild) which became the main focus for textile art in Denmark. Examples of her work can be seen in Holmen's Church, Copenhagen, and the

Carl Nielsen Museum The Carl Nielsen Museum (''Carl Nielsen Museet'') is a museum in Odense, Denmark. The museum is located as an extension on the northwestern side of the Odense Concert Hall . History The museum operates as a part of the Odense City Museums. The ...

Odense Odense ( , , ) is the third largest city in Denmark (behind Copenhagen and Aarhus) and the largest city on the island of Funen. As of 1 January 2022, the city proper had a population of 180,863 while Odense Municipality had a population of 20 ...

. She created the stage curtain depicting the "Tree of Life" in the

National Museum of Denmark The National Museum of Denmark (Nationalmuseet) in Copenhagen is Denmark's largest museum of cultural history, comprising the histories of Danish and foreign cultures, alike. The museum's main building is located a short distance from Strøget ...

. In 2006, her work was exhibited in Kunsten, Aalborg together with that of her father Axel and her son Kasper. Naja Salto died on 3 March 2016.

References

External links

Examples of Salto's work
with lists of exhibitions and decorated buildings from Galleri Krebsen {{DEFAULTSORT:Salto, Naja 1945 births 2016 deaths Artists from Copenhagen Danish textile artists Danish women artists Danish painters Danish women painters Women textile artists