Tove Thejll Clemmensen (11 October 1915 – 28 March 2006) was a Danish

art historian Art history is the study of aesthetic objects and visual expression in historical and stylistic context. Traditionally, the discipline of art history emphasized painting, drawing, sculpture, architecture, ceramics and decorative arts; yet today ...

and

curator A curator (from la, cura, meaning "to take care") is a manager or overseer. When working with cultural organizations, a curator is typically a "collections curator" or an "exhibitions curator", and has multifaceted tasks dependent on the parti ...

who was a specialist in eighteenth-century Danish furniture. She renovated several Danish museums including

Bakkehuset Bakkehuset ( lit. "''The Hill House'') is a historic house museum on Rahbeks Allé in the Frederiksberg district of Copenhagen, Denmark. Dating from the 1520s, it has served a number of functions over the years, including as a farmhouse, inn, priv ...

and Liselund in the 1950s.

Biography

Born on 11 October 1915 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 ...

, she was the daughter of the architect and archaeologist Mogens Becker Clemmensen (1885-1943) and the artist Augusta Thejll (1884-1980). Her brother Ebbe (1917–2003) became a successful architect. In 1946, she married the university teacher Mogens Bellmann Mackeprang who died in 1986. Clemmensen was raised in a comfortable artistic environment which influenced her own development. After matriculating from Rysensteen Gymnasium, she joined the National Museum of Denmark in 1935 where her father was planning the extension of the

Prince's Mansion The Prince's Mansion is a palatial Rococo-style mansion located at Frederiksholms Kanal in central Copenhagen, Denmark. It used to serve as the official residence of the Crown Prince of Denmark but now houses the National Museum of Denmark. Histor ...

. She developed her expertise in the area by travelling in Europe. In 1937 she went to London to deepen her knowledge of medieval embroidery at the

Victoria and Albert Museum The Victoria and Albert Museum (often abbreviated as the V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.27 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and nam ...

. In 1939, she was appointed assistant curator at the Dansk Folkemuseum, becoming curator from 1953 to 1975. Clemmensen's special interest in 16th and 17th century Danish furniture was inspired by her father's registration work. In 1940, she undertook a large-scale survey of furniture in Danish castles and manor houses, publishing the results of her restoration of

Borreby Castle Borreby Castle ( da, Borreby Slot, ) is a fortified manor house located near Skælskør, Slagelse Municipality, in the south-west corner of the island of Zealand, in eastern Denmark. History Early history First mentioned in 1345, by the end of th ...

in 1942. With the assistance of the furniture expert Christian Axel Jensen (1878–1952), she recorded the castle's inventory. She went on to develop wider coverage of historic Danish furniture, pioneering a central archive at the National Museum with photographs of the pieces recorded. In particular, she developed an interest in the major Danish furniture designers of the 18th century. The work formed the basis of her 1973 doctoral thesis at

Aarhus University Aarhus University ( da, Aarhus Universitet, abbreviated AU) is a public research university with its main campus located in Aarhus, Denmark. It is the second largest and second oldest university in Denmark. The university is part of the Coimbra Gr ...

, ''Møbler af N.H. Jardin, C.F. Harsdorff og J.C. Lillie og eksempler på deres interiørdekoration'' (Furniture by N.H. Jardin, C.F. Harsdorff and J.C. Lillie and Examples of their Interior Decoration Work). She published several other works on Danish furniture and craftsmanship including ''Danish Furniture of the Eighteenth Century'' (1948) and ''The Recording of Furniture in Danish Castles and Manor Houses'' (1966). She has also studied and published works on historic Chinese furniture. Tove Clemmensen died on 28 March 2006 and is buried in

Gentofte Cemetery Gentofte () is a district of Gentofte Municipality in the northern suburbs of Copenhagen, Denmark. Major landmarks include Gentofte Town Hall, Gentofte Hospital and Gentofte Church. Gentofte Lake with surrounding parkland and nature reserves f ...

Awards

Clemmensen was awarded the

Tagea Brandts Rejselegat The Tagea Brandts ''Rejselegat'' (Travel Scholarship) is a Danish award to women who have made a significant contribution in science, literature or art. The grant, which is given without application, was created and endowed by Danish industrialist ...

in 1974 and in 1975 was honoured as a

Knight of the Order of the Dannebrog The Order of the Dannebrog ( da, Dannebrogordenen) is a Danish order of chivalry instituted in 1671 by Christian V. Until 1808, membership in the order was limited to fifty members of noble or royal rank, who formed a single class known ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Clemmensen, Tove 1915 births 2006 deaths Danish art historians Danish women writers People from Randers Knights of the Order of the Dannebrog Women art historians Danish women historians Danish women curators