Description of the attraction
The Karl Henning Pedersen and Elsa Alfelt Museum is located in the suburb of the large Danish city of Herning - in the town of Brik. It is located three kilometers east of the center of Herning. The museum itself is dedicated to the work of the married couple Karl Henning Pedersen and Elsa Alfelt, contemporary Danish artists.
Interestingly, the museum was opened during Pedersen's lifetime. The artist himself initiated the creation of this museum. The fact is that his wife, Elsa Alfelt, died in 1974, but Pedersen did not want to either sell her paintings or exhibit them to the general public. At the same time, it was known that back in the early seventies, the city of Herning volunteered to open a museum of this artist at its own expense, and in 1976 this plan was finally fulfilled. Now in the museum of Karl Henning Pedersen and Elsa Alfelt, more than 4,000 of their works are presented.
It is worth paying special attention to the artistic activities of Pedersen and Alfelt. They are among the most active members of the COBRA avant-garde movement, which began in 1949. It opposed the Cold War and was inspired by primitive and folk art, often drawing on medieval mythology. The peak of creativity of this society fell on the fifties. Pedersen himself is mainly known as the author of numerous easel paintings on canvas, but he also established himself as a sculptor, architect, graphic artist. He also worked with ceramics, mosaics and stained glass. His wife, Elsa Alfelt, specialized in abstract painting, but like Pedersen, she also often worked with mosaics.
The museum is housed in a circular building, the frieze of which was designed by Karl Henning Pedersen himself. In 1992-1993, the exterior of the museum was complemented by a huge triangular prism, one part of which was made of glass, while the other was decorated with ceramic tiles. This innovation was also developed by the famous artist Pedersen, who passed away in 2007.
