Queen Margrethe II is not only Denmark’s longest-reigning monarch; The queen, who recently passed the throne to her son Frederick X, is also a prolific artist.
Her creative pursuits encompass everything from book illustration to set design, and her artwork has been exhibited widely throughout Denmark and internationally. However, to date, Queen Margrethe’s paintings are rarely sold to the public.
Danish auction house Bruun Rasmussen, which was acquired by Bonhams in 2022, plans to auction off one of her acrylic works in March this year, with prices ranging from 75,000 Danish kroner ($11,000) to 100,000. It is expected to sell for Danish krone ($15,000).
“Although her exhibition list is surprisingly long, her works are rarely put up for sale,” Niels Boe-Haugaard, contemporary art specialist and director at Bruun Rasmussen, said in a statement. “So there are very few paintings like this one that are available, because they come directly from people who had close relationships with the Queen.”
The painting up for auction was created in 1988, the same year Margrethe began exhibiting her work officially. The watch was personally gifted to her former court marshal, Hans Solbhoj, and has remained in his family’s possession ever since.
Queen Margrethe II’s relationship with the Danish cultural scene
Margrethe, 83, ruled Denmark for 52 years. At the end of 2023, she revealed her plans to step down in a surprising announcement on New Year’s Eve, citing health issues and her recent back surgery. The Queen formally signed her abdication on January 14 earlier this month.
Margrethe, who boasts an approval rating of about 80 percent, is loved by Danes for her casual attitude and artistic sense. She has dabbled in painting, set design, costume design, decoupage, and even archeology, which she studied at Cambridge University. Her artistic talent was first revealed in 1970 when the Queen designed Denmark’s annual Christmas Seal, and since then she has designed the 2003 Seal in addition to her 1983 Greenlandic Seal. And in 2015 she furthermore designed two Danish seals.
long time fan of Lord of the Ring, Margrethe in the late 1970s created illustrations for the Danish edition of the JRR Tolkien series. These were originally sent as fan mail to the author under the pseudonym “Ingahild Glasmer”, an anagram of part of the Queen’s name, and the author noticed that the drawings resembled her own.
Meanwhile, her art exhibitions have been held at institutions such as Denmark’s Akenmuseum, and in 2012 more than 100 works were exhibited in the largest exhibition in her art history. Profits from the sales of her posters, lithographs, and calendars are usually donated to organizations such as the Danish Cancer Society, the Danish Multiple Sclerosis Society, and Children of Greenland.
And Margrethe worked as a set and costume designer for the 2009 “ wild swans and 2000 The snow queen. She most recently served as costume and production designer. Ehrengard: The Art of Seduction, A 2023 Netflix (NFLX) historical drama set in the fictional kingdom of Babenhausen.
