About

In the 20th century Else Kirsten Madsen (née Henriksen) was a Danish housewife, mother, grandmother and traveling companion to her husband Axel Karl Rasmus Madsen. She was also a practicing artist who produced and left a vast and unexplored archive of oil paintings, drawings, watercolors, sketches, and miscellaneous works on paper.

Actively drawing and painting throughout her life, she produced nearly 100 oil on canvas paintings and close to 1000 watercolors, drawings and sketches. In addition to the artworks, Else and Axel made nearly 20,000 photographic slides of their travels and Else made several 8 mm “home movies.”

This archive points to an unexplored and uninterrogated life of a visually inquisitive and creatively engaged woman who practiced art making outside of academia and the art mainstream, yet on a very personal level developed a body of work that reflects the life, times, concerns, and joys of a modern Danish woman.

The mission of the Else Madsen Foundation is to secure, assess, interpret, and share the artistic legacy that Else Madsen left behind.