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Bodil Kaalund: Altar painting in Solbjerg Church

Key Information

Bodil Marie Kaalund-Jørgensen (1930–2016) was an award-winning Danish painter, textile artist and writer, who is remembered above all for her artwork in Danish churches and for her Bible illustrations.[1][2] She was also a major contributor to the recognition of Greenland's cultural heritage, thanks in part to her Grønlands Kunst, published in English in 1983 as The Art of Greenland.[3][4]

Early life and education

[edit]
Bodil Kaalung: Altar in Lemvig Church

Born in Silkeborg on 8 November 1930, Bodil Marie Kaalund was the daughter of the painter Martin Kaalund-Jørgensen (1889–1952) and Hilda Jenny Rasmussen (1896–1984), a teacher. It was thanks to her father that she became interested in painting from an early age.[1] Her mother, who never worked professionally, became her teacher when she and her elder sister spent their long summers in their Røsnæs summerhouse. In 1943, the family moved to Lyngby where she lived for the rest of her life.[5]

Kaalund attended the state school in Lyngby. In her early teens, she became interested in religious art. This was reinforced in 1946 when she discovered the work of Edvard Munch while on holiday in Norway. When she was just 18, she exhibited two landscape paintings at Den Frie Udstilling's autumn exhibition.[1]

After matriculating from high school, she studied at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts under Kræsten Iversen, Holger J. Jensen and Elof Risebye, graduating in 1954.[6] In 1950, Kaalund married the painter Nikolaj Nielsen. They had one child together, Magnus, but the marriage was dissolved in 1976.[1]

Career

[edit]

While at the Royal Academy, Kaalund met the Greenlandic artist and writer Jens Rosing. As a result, she developed a keen interest in the art and culture of Greenland. In 1968, she travelled there to arrange the first exhibition of Danish art ever held in Greenland. The following year, she went on to arrange an exhibition of Greenlandic art in Denmark in the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art. She later collaborated with Hans Lynge to establish Grønlands Kunstskole (Greenland's Art School), which opened in 1972. In 1979, she published Grønlands kunst (translated as The Art of Greenland), the first extensive work of its kind.[1]

Kaalund became recognized for her artwork with her painting Korsnedtagelsen (Descent from the Cross) in 1966. She became one of the first female artists to decorate churches when in 1972 she decorated the altar wall of Erlev Church on the island of Mors with a picture of Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane.[1] In 1977, she decorated Lemvig Church in the west of Jutland, establishing a lasting relationship with the locality. She was instrumental in establishing the town's Museet for Religiøs Kunst (Museum for Religious Art) in 1994.[7] She decorated a total of 27 churches, including Solbjerg Church and Hvidovre's Strandmark Church.[5]

She also illustrated several religious works with Biblical scenes. Her major work in this connected was the new authorized Danish edition of the Bible which was published in 1992. It contained 159 illustrations. The original watercolours can be seen in the Lemvig Museum of Religious Art. Many of them are based on scenes from the countryside around the Limfjord and the west coast of Denmark.[1]

Bodil Kaalund died in her sleep at her home in Lyngby on 22 December 2016.[5]

Awards

[edit]

Kaalund had received many awards, including the Greenlandic Cultural Prize (2000) and the Academy's N. L. Høyen Medal (2002).[5]

References

[edit]
Revisions and contributorsEdit on WikipediaRead on Wikipedia

Bodil Kaalund

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Bodil Kaalund was a Danish visual artist and author known for her narrative church decorations and Bible illustrations that blend everyday human experiences with spiritual themes. Born on 8 November 1930 , she died on 22 December 2016 and trained at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts from 1950 to 1954. Her breakthrough came with the extensive decoration of Lemvig Kirke between 1976 and 1981 (or 1977–1988 in some accounts), featuring 37 hand-coloured heliographic lithographs depicting scenes from both the Old and New Testaments, which sparked widespread dialogue on art, religion, and community and directly inspired the founding of Museet for Religiøs Kunst in Lemvig in 1994. She later created 159 watercolour illustrations for the 1992 Danish Bible translation, many drawing motifs from the Limfjord region and the North Sea coast, which formed a core collection at the museum. Beyond her religious works, Kaalund co-founded Grønlands Kunstskole in 1972 and authored the influential book Grønlands Kunst, first published in 1979 and revised in 1990 and 2011, establishing it as a key reference on Greenlandic art. She received the Høyens Medalje in 2002 and was named an honorary citizen of Lemvig in 2005. Her expressive style, often combining lithography with watercolour, rendered biblical narratives with a sense of immediacy and humanity drawn from ordinary life.

Early life and education

Family background and childhood

Bodil Marie Kaalund-Jørgensen was born on November 8, 1930, in Silkeborg, Denmark. She was the daughter of painter Martin Kaalund-Jørgensen (1889–1952) and Hilda Jenny Rasmussen (1896–1984), a trained teacher who did not pursue a professional career. Growing up in an artistic household, Kaalund received her first insights into painting from her father, who provided early instruction and exposed her to the creative environment of the time. In 1942, the family relocated to Lyngby, where Kaalund lived for the remainder of her life. Her childhood in Silkeborg and early years in Lyngby unfolded in a home influenced by her parents' social democratic and cultural radical values, which led to her and her siblings being exempted from religious instruction at school. Despite this, Kaalund developed a strong attraction to biblical narratives from a young age, often sneaking into lessons to hear stories such as those from Selma Lagerlöf's "Kristuslegender" being read aloud, and religious motifs lived in her thoughts already from childhood. This early engagement with art and religion culminated in her first public showing at age 18, when she exhibited two landscape paintings at Kunstnernes Efterårsudstilling in 1948.

Training at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts

Bodil Kaalund completed her secondary education at Lyngby Statsskole, where she took her studentereksamen in 1949. She subsequently enrolled at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts (Det Kongelige Danske Kunstakademi) in Copenhagen, studying there from 1950 to 1954. Her training focused primarily on the academy's painting school (Malerskolen) under Kræsten Iversen, with additional periods at the fresco school under Elof Risebye and studies under Holger J. Jensen. She also attended the graphic school during this time. Kaalund completed her studies at the academy in 1954. During her academy years, she met the Greenlandic artist and writer Jens Rosing, an encounter that initiated her lifelong interest in Greenlandic art. This formative connection influenced her later engagements with Greenlandic themes and collaborations.

Visual arts career

Early works and exhibitions

Bodil Kaalund debuted at the Kunstnernes Efterårsudstilling in 1948 and continued exhibiting there annually from 1950 to 1961, establishing her presence in the Danish art scene during and immediately after her student years. Following her graduation from the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts in 1954, these group exhibitions formed the primary platform for her early professional output. Her initial works concentrated on landscape paintings and natural motifs, as seen in the oil painting Lys nat (1957) and Sea and countryside (1959). These pieces reflect her early engagement with outdoor scenes and atmospheric effects during the post-graduation period.

Themes, techniques, and style

Bodil Kaalund's art revolved around recurring themes of everyday experiences, travelogues, and religious images drawn from Biblical sources. She is particularly recognized for her motifs from the Old and New Testaments, which she interpreted in ways that suggestively blend close and everyday human existence with the spiritual values she perceived in the Bible. This integration allowed her to connect ordinary human life with deeper spiritual meaning, creating works that reflect narrative qualities and a focus on human observation intertwined with Biblical elements. Kaalund frequently employed a mix of lithographic prints—often heliographic—and watercolor, including hand-coloring techniques to achieve nuanced effects in her graphic works. Her style emphasized suggestive rather than literal representations, enabling everyday scenes, landscapes from travels, and still lifes to resonate alongside religious scenes. Representative examples include religious compositions such as Sinai (1984) and Communion (1988), which illustrate her characteristic fusion of the mundane and the sacred.

Church decorations

Major commissions and breakthrough

Bodil Kaalund's breakthrough in religious art occurred in 1966 with her painting Korsnedtagelsen (Descent from the Cross), exhibited at a solo show organized by Ung dansk Kunst. This work established her reputation for figurative religious compositions and marked her entry into church decorations, making her one of the first Danish women to receive major commissions in this field. She ultimately completed decorations for a total of 27 churches. Her first major church commission came in 1972 at Erslev Church on Mors, where she painted a circular composition on the altar wall depicting Kristus i Getsemane have (Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane) in dark colors, emphasizing narrative elements and mystical atmosphere. Among her other significant contributions is the altar painting Kristi Himmelfart (The Ascension of Christ) in Solbjerg Church, a large-scale expressionist work with flaming golden and white-yellow tones behind the ascending figure and regarded as one of her principal achievements in church art.

Lemvig Church project and Museum for Religious Art

Bodil Kaalund undertook an extensive decorative project for Lemvig Church in western Jutland between 1977 and 1988, creating 37 pictures depicting motifs from both the Old and New Testaments. These works were executed using heliographic lithographs hand-colored with watercolor. The project began with an agreement in May 1976; the pulpit panels and altarpiece were completed and unveiled in November 1977, the gallery panels in June 1981, and the final panels on the clerk's desk in March 1988. The decoration encompassed elements such as the altarpiece with themes of joy and expectation, the pulpit illustrating Jesus' parables, organ loft panels from the Old Testament, a large Last Supper scene in the north aisle, the sacristy door, and the clerk's desk, collectively forming what has been described as a complete "picture Bible." The project marked Kaalund's breakthrough as a church artist and established a long-term association with Lemvig, deepened through her collaboration with the local congregation over more than a decade. This enduring connection extended to her instrumental role in the founding of Museet for Religiøs Kunst (Museum for Religious Art) in Lemvig, where her church decoration laid the foundation for the institution. The museum opened in 1994, initially with a café and two small exhibition rooms, and later expanded with the Kaalundsalen in 1998. It houses original Bible watercolors by Kaalund, along with other works from her oeuvre.

Bible illustrations

Commission for the Danish Bible edition

In 1984, Bodil Kaalund was commissioned by Det Danske Bibelselskab to illustrate the new authorized Danish translation of the Bible, marking one of the most significant projects in her career. This extensive undertaking resulted in the publication of an illustrated Bible edition in 1992. Kaalund created 159 watercolor illustrations for the Bible, capturing biblical narratives through her distinctive artistic lens. The motifs often incorporated landscapes from the Limfjord region and the west coast of Denmark, grounding the religious scenes in familiar Nordic natural settings.

Creation process and notable motifs

Bodil Kaalund's Bible illustrations were created as original watercolours. The original watercolours are held in the collection of the Museum for Religious Art in Lemvig, which opened in 1994 and was founded in significant part on the basis of these illustrations. Among her notable motifs from this body of work are Sinai (1984), Communion (1988), The women by the well (1988), Jonah in the belly of the whale (1988), Feeding the multitude (1988), Take it, this is my body (1988), and For the Fall (1991). These pieces interpret biblical narratives through watercolour, often blending everyday human experiences with spiritual themes drawn from both the Old and New Testaments. Kaalund's approach emphasizes suggestive combinations of familiar realities and religious imagery, creating accessible yet profound visual reflections on biblical stories.

Contributions to Greenlandic art

Travels, exhibitions, and collaborations

Bodil Kaalund's interest in Greenland and its art was sparked during her student years at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, where she met the Greenlandic artist and writer Jens Rosing. This encounter fostered her lifelong engagement with Greenlandic culture and motivated her subsequent activities to promote artistic exchange between Denmark and Greenland. In 1968, Kaalund traveled to Greenland for the first time, at the initiative of Culture Minister Bodil Koch, to organize the first exhibition of Danish art ever held in the country. The following year, she co-organized a landmark exhibition of Greenlandic art at the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, which helped bring contemporary Greenlandic artists to wider Danish attention. Kaalund collaborated closely with Greenlandic artist Hans Lynge, beginning in 1969, on initiatives to support artistic development in Greenland. Their partnership culminated in 1972 when they co-founded Grønlands Kunstskole (Greenland's Art School), originally established as Grafisk Værksted in Nuuk.

Founding of Greenland's Art School

In 1972, Bodil Kaalund co-founded Grønlands Kunstskole (Greenland's Art School) together with the Greenlandic artist and writer Hans Lynge. This initiative established Greenland's first dedicated art school, initially operating as Grafisk Værksted (Graphic Workshop) or Puilanerit in Nuuk, in a former municipal bathhouse building. The school aimed to support Greenlandic artists by providing facilities, training, and a framework for artistic development, helping to nurture local talent and promote the unfoldment of art in Greenland. Kaalund took the initial initiative for the workshop that formed its basis, while Lynge envisioned it as a space for broader artistic expression in the region. This foundation built on her earlier collaborations and engagements with Greenlandic art scenes. The institution later evolved and in 1981 became a state-supported educational institution formally known as Grønlands Kunstskole (also known as Nunatsinni Eqqumiitsuliornermik Ilinniarfik), after operating as Grafisk Værksted / Puilanerit from 1972 to 1980. Its 1972 establishment marked a pivotal step in fostering professional opportunities for Greenlandic creators.

Publication of Grønlands kunst

In 1979, Bodil Kaalund published Grønlands kunst, the first extensive work on Greenlandic sculpture, crafts, and painting. Drawing on her long-term engagement with Greenland through travels, exhibitions, and collaborations, the book provided a comprehensive overview of the region's artistic traditions and developments. The work was revised and expanded in subsequent editions released in 1990 and 2011. It has come to be regarded as a classic in the field of Greenlandic art studies. An English translation, titled The Art of Greenland: Sculpture, Crafts, Painting, was published by the University of California Press in 1983. This edition made Kaalund's authoritative survey accessible to an international audience, further cementing its influence on the documentation and understanding of Greenlandic art.

Awards and recognition

Personal life

Marriage, family, and residences

Bodil Kaalund married the painter and graphic artist Nikolaj Nielsen on 6 August 1950. The couple, who had met while studying at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, had one son, Magnus, born in 1960. Their marriage was dissolved in 1976. In 1942, Kaalund's family relocated from Silkeborg to Lyngby, where she resided thereafter. Following the dissolution of her marriage, she remained in the family home in Lyngby with her son. She continued to live in Lyngby for the remainder of her life.

Later years and death

She died at her home in Lyngby on 22 December 2016, aged 86, after a long illness.

Legacy

Influence on religious and Greenlandic art

Bodil Kaalund is remembered primarily for her narrative church decorations and Bible illustrations, which brought renewal and storytelling depth to modern Danish religious art. Her extensive cycle of biblical motifs, executed as hand-coloured heliographic lithographs, emphasized narrative richness in church settings and influenced the development of contemporary ecclesiastical art in Denmark. These contributions, particularly her work in Lemvig Kirke and illustrations for the 1992 Danish Bible translation, directly supported the founding of Museet for Religiøs Kunst in Lemvig, which opened in 1994 and houses a core collection of her religious works. Kaalund also played a pioneering role in documenting and promoting Greenlandic art heritage, shifting perceptions of Greenlandic creative production from ethnographic curiosities to recognized fine art. Her book Grønlands Kunst, first published in 1979 and revised in 1990 and 2011, is regarded as a classic that provided Greenlanders with their own comprehensive art history spanning thousands of years. Through co-founding Grønlands Kunstskole in 1972, organizing early exhibitions that presented Greenlandic works seriously, and long-term engagement with Greenlandic artists and institutions, she significantly advanced the documentation, recognition, and institutional support for Greenlandic visual arts. Her efforts earned her notable honours in Greenland, including the Grønlands Hjemmestyres Kulturpris in 2000 and Grønlands Fortjenstmedalje in 2006.

Museum holdings and posthumous exhibitions

Bodil Kaalund's works form the core of the collection at Museet for Religiøs Kunst in Lemvig, Denmark, where hundreds of her pieces remain central to the museum's holdings. The museum's collection originated with her contributions, particularly the 159 original watercolors she created to illustrate the authorized Danish Bible published in 1992; these works established the foundation of the museum's holdings from 1994 onward and include many motifs drawn from the landscapes of the Limfjord region and the North Sea coast. The establishment of the museum stemmed from local initiatives inspired by her extensive decoration of Lemvig Church during the late 1970s and 1980s. Her watercolors are also held in the permanent collection of Nordiska Akvarellmuseet in Sweden, featuring religious-themed pieces such as Sinai (1984), Communion (1988), The Women by the Well (1988), Jonah in the Belly of the Whale (1988), Feeding the Multitude (1988), Take It, This Is My Body (1988), and For the Fall (1991). These works highlight her characteristic blending of everyday human experiences with biblical narratives through watercolor and lithographic techniques. Since her death in 2016, Kaalund's art has continued to attract interest through auctions and posthumous exhibitions. Auction activity has persisted, with her works appearing in sales since 2017 and reaching a record price of 954 USD for Æblesortering in 2020. Posthumous exhibitions have included shows featuring previously unexhibited pieces from her personal estate, maintaining attention on her contributions to religious and Nordic art.

Media appearances

Bodil Kaalund made limited media appearances, featuring as herself in two Danish documentary films that explored prominent artists in the Danish art scene. She appeared in the 2014 documentary Man siger ikke nej til Asger, directed by Anna von Lowzow and produced by Nordisk Film. The film examines the life and work of Danish artist Asger Jorn through interviews with those who knew him, including Kaalund. It premiered on February 25, 2014, at the Statens Museum for Kunst in Copenhagen, coinciding with the opening of a major exhibition marking the centenary of Jorn's birth. Posthumously, Kaalund was featured in Farvekraft ad helvede til (2018), directed by Anne Holst Moulvad. This 90-minute documentary offers a portrait of expressionist painter Jens Søndergaard, with Kaalund credited as herself (listed as "Self - Artist"). The film was released after her death in December 2016.

References

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  6. https://www.gallerivedkirken.dk/186.html
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  24. https://www.nuukkunstmuseum.com/da/puilanerit-grafisk-vaerksed-1972-1980/
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  26. https://books.google.com/books?id=uvDyTuJ9zJkC
  27. https://dinavis.dk/kultur/ECE15756073/bodil-kaalund-en-staedig-rad-og-en-fri-fugl-fylder-85-aar/
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  31. https://www.kristeligt-dagblad.dk/kultur/det-sanselige-blik-paa-verden
  32. https://folkebladetlemvig.dk/lemvig/bodil-kaalund-havde-en-sanselig-tilgang-til-verden
  33. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5346908/
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  36. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8870800/
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