ARKEN is a private Foundation.

The museum’s ultimate authority rests with the board of trustees which comprises six members.

In addition, the museum staff has elected two non-voting representatives to the board.

The board is appointed every four years. Mayor Ole Bjørstorp chairs the board.

The day-to-day management of ARKEN is in the hands of director Christian Gether.

Christian Gether
b. 12.3.1948

Museum Director, Aff. Professor, mag.art. & cand.mag.
ARKEN Museum of Modern Art, Ishøj

Employment

2007  Roskilde University, Department of Communication, Business and Information Technologies, The Master in Experience Leadership, Aff. Professor

1997  ARKEN Museum of Modern Art, Museum Director

1995  Danish Contemporary Art Foundation, Director

1986  Vestsjælland Museum of Art, Sorø, Museum Director

1984 – 85  Bruun Rasmussen Auctioneers of Fine Art, Appraiser

1983 – 84  Den Permanente A/S, Department Head

1983 – 85  The Danish University Extension, Copenhagen, Lecturer

1979  The Danish Academy in Rome, Queen Ingrid’s Roman Scholarship

1975  Statens Museum for Kunst, Student Assistant

1970  A.P. Møller Shipping Company, shipping education

Exams at the University of Copenhagen

1982  Mag.art. in art history

1975  Eksam.art. in film & media studies

1974  General aesthetics

1973  Eksam.art. in English language and literature

1971  Filosofikum, The general philosophical exam

Supplementary training

2002  Leading Retrenchment at J. Paul Getty Leadership Institute, J. Paul Getty Institute, Los Angeles, USA

2001  Negotiation Dynamics at INSEAD, Fontainebleau, France

2000  Competitive Strategy at INSEAD, Fontainebleau, France

1999  CRM (Costumer Relations Management) at Arthur Andersen, Copenhagen

1997  Negotiation Strategy at the Danish Technological Institute, Copenhagen

1993  Museum Management at J. Paul Getty Trust’s Museum Management Institute at Berkeley University, Berkeley, California

1984  Journalism and Communication at the Danish School of Journalism, Aarhus

Appointments on boards and commities as well as selected feelance work

2010 – 13  Member of the board of Henie Onstad Art Centre, Norway

2007  Member of the Advisory Board, The Master in Experience Leadership, Department of Communication, Business and Information Technologies, Roskilde University

2006 – 09  Member of the steering committee of Danske Initiativpuljer

2006  Member of the presidium of the Danish Mental Health Fund’s National Campaign against Depression

2003 – 07  Member of the board of Danish Museum’s Art Conservation Center

2003  Curator of exhibition of drawings by Per Kirkeby at Museum Rupertinum in Salzburg in connection with the presentation of the Herbert Böchel Prize

2002  Member of the council of Wonderful Copenhagen

2002 – 07  Member of the board of WOCO, Wonderful Copenhagen

2002  Chairman of commission on ‘the library money’ for the Ministry of Culture

2000  Chairman of The International Culture Council
Member of steering committee re. setting up of ‘Eventure Organisation’ and the development of ‘experiential accounts’ under WOCO, Wonderful Copenhagen

1999  Member of Business Management Group 49
Brumleby Culture Fund
Jury member re. decoration of Lathi, Finland

1998  The board of the Danish Illuminating Engineering Society (retired early 2000)
Lecturer on partnership between the private sector/tourism and cultural life

1997-99  Lecturer at seminars on museum management/cultural administration at the University of Krakow, Poland

1996  Committee for the Biennial Germination, Antwerp, the Netherlands
Jury member in connection with memorial for the 600 years jubilee of the Kalmar Union, Kalmar, Sweden
Curator: MAGDALENA ABAKANOWICZ: SCULPTURE 1996, Charlottenborg

1995  Chairman of Committee re. collaboration between Artists, Museums and Schools, the Nordic Council of Ministers
Chairman of Sleipnir, committe re. travelling scholarship for artists, the Nordic Council of Ministers
Member of expert group re. the Calaidoscope Programme, the European Commission, Brussels

1994  Chairman of the Nordic Council of Ministers’ Committee on Art and Craft
‘The Museum of Art, a Changing Institution’ produced in connection with a new museum bill for the Danish Ministry of Culture

1993  Member of the International Committee in the Danish Museum Council
Analysis of ‘Nordic Art Centre’ in Helsinki, Finland for the Nordic Council of Ministers with a view to streamlining the institution with regards to qualifications of art, human resources, marketing and economy

1991  Member of KIKU, The Ministry of Culture’s International Art Committee

1990  Chairman of FDK, the Association of Danish Museums of Art

1988  Sorø Tourism and Business Council

1987  Vestsjælland County’s Museum Council

1980  Art critic at the Liberal Press Bureau

1978  Auction registration for Fondation Custodia, Paris

Orders of chivalry

Knight of the Order of Dannebrog (Danish)
Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres (French)
Cross of Honour for Science and Art 1st Class (Austrian)

Selected monographs, exhibition texts and catalogue articles

Contribution to the book Peter J. Lassen, published by Montana on the occasion of Director Peter J. Lassen’s eightieth birthday, 2010

[The Sculptor Kai Nielsen, 1882 – 1924]
Billedhuggeren Kai Nielsen, 1882 – 1924. Borgens Forlag, 1986

Articles on art, a selection

Vincent van Gogh & The Implicate Order
Van Gogh, ARKEN Museum of Modern Art, 2018

[Cosmic Ocean – Life, Poetry and Beauty, A Hymn to Humanism]
Kosmisk hav – livet, poesien og skønheden, en hymne til humanismen
Carl-Henning Pedersen – De monumentale værker, 2016

Per Kirkeby – From the Surface of Pop Art to the Depth of the Mind
Kirkeby on Laesoe, 2016

Language as Sculptural Material
Within a Realm of Distance – Lawrence Weiner at Blenheim Palace
Blenheim Art Foundation, 2015

Utopia and the Contemporary Art Museum
Utopia & Contemporary Art, 2012

A Lifelong Dedication to Art
The Dresing Donation, 2011

A Museum for Participative Man
ARKEN BULLETIN NO. 5, 2010

On Limits and Transgressions: What is ‘Beyond Belief’?
Experiencing Damien Hirst’s For the Love of God at White Cube Gallery, 1 June 2007
ARKEN BULLETIN NO. 4, 2009

It’s Healthy to Be Afraid
Interview with Damien Hirst
ARKEN BULLETIN NO. 4, 2009

Abjection and Construction of Identity. The Abject in Andreas Golder’s Painting.
ARKEN BULLETIN NO. 3, 2006

[Anders Zorn, an Introduction to Anders Zorn and Nordic Contemporary Art]
Anders Zorn, en introduktion i Anders Zorn og nordisk samtidskunst
ARKEN Museum of Modern Art, 2004

[The Body, the Cathedral of Our Time. On Edvard Munch’s Men Bathing, 1907-08]
Kroppen, den ny tids katedral. Om Edvard Munchs Badende men (Badende Mænd), 1907-08
In ‘500 års verdenskunst’, Gyldendal, 2004

[Henry Heerup’s Vitalism, HENRY HEERUP – FAITH, HOPE AND CHARITY]
Henry Heerups vitalisme, HENRY HEERUP – TRO, HÅB OG KÆRLIGHED,
ARKEN Museum of Modern Art, 2003

[‘Cell Arabesque’ by Elisabeth Toubro]
’Cellearabesk’ af Elisabeth Toubro, Ny Carlsbergfondets 100års jubilæumsbog, 2002

Communicating in a Junk Culture, Noble & Webster: Falling Apart.
ARKEN BULLETIN NO.1, 2002

[Man, MAN – BODY IN ART FROM 1950 TO 2000]
Mennesket, MENNESKET – ET HALVT ÅRHUNDREDE SET GENNEM KROPPEN
ARKEN Museum of Modern Art, 2000

[Man’s Quest, MAN – BODY IN ART FROM 1950 TO 2000]
Det søgende menneske, MENNESKET – ET HALVT ÅRHUNDREDE SET GENNEM KROPPEN
ARKEN Museum of Modern Art, 2000

[The Bridge to the 20th Century, ECHOES OF THE SCREAM]
Broen til det 20. århundrede, SKRIGETS EKKO
ARKEN Museum of Modern Art and the Munch Museum, Oslo

[The Bridge to the 20th Century, TV programme from the Norwegian Rigskringskastning based on text in the exhibition catalogue ECHOES OF THE SCREAM]
Broen til det 20. århundrede.
TV udsendelse fra den norske Rigskringkastning baseret på min tekst i udstillingskatalog,
SKRIGETS EKKO, 2001

[Edvard Munch’s Vitalism, EDVARD MUNCH – THE SIMPLE LIFE. PAINTINGS FROM EKELY 1916 – 1944]
Edvard Munchs vitalisme, EDVARD MUNCH – DET NÆRE LIV. MALERIER FRA EKELY 1916 – 1944
ARKEN Museum of Modern Art, 1999 – 2000

[Salvador Dalí, an Introduction to His Work]
Salvador Dalí, en introduktion til hans værk, SALVADOR DALI
ARKEN Museum of Modern Art, 1999

USA-EUROPA, EURO-POP, A DIALOGUE WITH THE US
ARKEN Museum of Modern Art, 1999

MAGDALENA ABAKANOWICZ. En introduktion
Charlottenborg, Copenhagen and Kulturhuset, Stockholm, 1996

[THE VITAL IMPULSE. A Rash Outline of Vitalism’s Backdrop.]
LIVSOPSVINGET. En hasarderet baggrundsskitse til vitalismen, MIKROMAKRO
Vestsjælland Museum of Art, Sorø, 1995

[ART X 6]
KUNST X 6. Vestsjælland Museum of Art and Norrköpings Konstmuseum, 1995

Terry Atkinson MUTE 3, Vestsjælland Museum of Art, Sorø, The Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin, Ireland and Cornerhouse, Manchester, UK, 1994

[Daring to Show What You Dare to Think]
At vove at vise det man vover at tænke, Stokrosebanden, 1993

Kirsten Gregersen, CORNER, 1993

[WASTE]
ABFALL, Christian Lemmerz, Vestsjælland Museum of Art, 1993

Pavillions for Nothing and Rooms for Redundant Gestures
Vestsjælland Museum of Art and Norrköpings Konstmuseum, 1993

[Bonnen in the 60s]
Bonnen in den 60er Jahren. Landesmuseum Oldenburg, Germany, 1992

[Apprehensive Insolences]
Ængstelige uforskammetheder, FLÅT(D)ENS NYHED(T)ER
Vestsjælland Museum of Art, 1990

[Nature, Commitment and ‘Fjällräven’]
Naturen, engagementet og ’Fjällräven’, in AD-SKILLELSER, Berit Jensen Vestsjælland Museum of Art, 1989

[Læsø Conversations with Sonny Tronborg, SORØ IMAGES]
Læsøsamtaler med Sonny Tronborg, SORØ BILLEDER
Vestsjælland Museum of Art, 1989

[From Frederiksstaden to Frederiksberg Garden, CROWN PRINCE AND HUMAN BEING]
Fra Frederiksstaden til Frederiksberg Have, KRONPRINS OG MENNESKEBARN
Vestsjælland Museum of Art, Sorø, Bomann-Museum,Celle, Städtisches Museum, Flensburg and Stadtmuseum, Düsseldorf, Germany, 1988 -1989

[A Gruesome Story, STRUENSEE AND DENMARK IN THE 1770S]
En grum historie, STRUENSEE OG DANMARK I 1770´ERNE, 1988

[MAN, God of the Modern World, PARIS-THE DOLOMITES-NEW YORK]
MENNESKET, den moderne verdens Gud, PARIS-DOLOMITTERNE-NEW YORK. WIIG HANSEN. Vestsjælland Museum of Art, Sorø, Stadtmuseum Düsseldorf, Germany, 1988 and Kunstverein Kiel, 1989

[The Drawings of Peter Bonde]
Peter Bondes tegninger, Vestsjælland Museum of Art, 1987

[The Pictures of Eva Weiss Bentzon. PAINTINGS AND DRAWINGS]
Eva Weiss Bentzons billeder. MALERIER OG TEGNINGER. Kunstforeningen, 1982

[Spanish Symbolism in Spain in the 17th Century]
Spansk symbolisme i Spanien i det 17. århundrede (Valdes Leal). Cras XVI, 1977

Plus a number of newspaper articles and features, e.g. on Marc Chagall, Salvador Dalí, Edvard Munch as well as film reviews in the film periodical LEVENDE BILLEDER.

Selected articles on the function of the art museum vis-à-vis the audience and the cultural heritage and international concerns at the dawn of the new millennium

ARKEN – Huset og kunsten, ARKEN Museum for Moderne Kunst, 2016

Det participative museum, Performance-design 10 år, 2014

The Art Museum – Still an Institution in Transition. Published in Museums – Social Learning Spaces and Knowledge Producing Processes, the Danish Agency for Culture, 2013

[The Future Art Museum]
Fremtidens kunstmuseum. ARKEN’s Annual Report, 2007

[Painting Revisited]
Med og mod maleriet. ARKEN’s Annual Report, 2006

[ARKEN – 10 Years’ Anniversary]
ARKEN – 10 ÅR. ARKEN’s Annual Report, 2005

[The Contemporary Space for Reflection]
Det moderne refleksionrum. ARKEN’s Annual Report, 2004

[Management with Values. 12 Conversations with Danish Senior Managers]
Ledelse med værdier. 12 samtaler med danske topledere, Børsen, 2003

[It is about Life]
Det handler om livet. ARKEN’s Annual Report, 2003

[The Museum of Art as a Forum for Debate – Something to Reflect Upon]
Kunstmuseet som debatforum – få en ny tanke med hjem. ARKEN’s Annual Report, 2001

[Cultural Life and Business Life, a Fruitful Alliance]
Kultur- og erhvervslivet, en frugtbar alliance. Kunstårbogen 2000 as well as ARKEN’s Annual Report, 2000

[Seven Interviews on the Museum of Art]
7 interviews om kunstmuseet by P.L. Jørgensen, Iben Dalgaard, Pernille Kleinert, the Department of Art Theory, the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, 1995/96

[The Museum of Art, a Changing  Institution]
Kunstmuseet, en institution i forandring, 1995 for the Ministry of Culture

[A New Spirituality]
En ny åndelighed, DANSKE MUSEER no. 1, 1995

[Management Report on Nordic Art Centre in Helsinki]
Institutionsanalyse af Nordisk Kunstcentrum i Helsinki, 1994 for the Nordic Council of Ministers

[MUTE 3 by Terry Atkinson at Vestsjælland Museum of Art]
MUTE 3 af Terry Atkinson på Vestsjællands Kunstmuseum, DANSKE MUSEER no. 3, 1992

[Contemporary Art]
Samtidskunsten, DANSKE MUSEER no. 6, 1991

[Danish Museums Meet French Museums]
Danske museer møder franske museer, DANSKE MUSEER no.5, 1991

[Contemporary Museums of Art]
Kunstmuseerne i samtiden, DANSKE MUSEER no. 3, 1991

[The Time of the Museum, the Museum of the Time]
Museets tid, tidens Museum, CRAS LIX, 1991

[Art Societies as Presenters of Art. Korsør Art Society 1966-1986]
Kunstforeninger som kunstformidlere, Korsør Kunstforening 1966- 1986

[The Royal Academy of Fine Arts and the Free Schools of Visual Art from 1756 to 1980] Kunstakademiet og De frie Billedkunstskoler fra 1756 til 1980, Sophienholm, Lyngby

As well as a large number of newspaper and trade journal articles on the museum as institution.

Selected art exhibitions at ARKEN Museum of Modern Art

2019
BELOVED BY PICASSO

PATRICIA PICCININI – A WORLD OF LOVE

YOUNG DANISH ART – FORECASTING THE FUTURE

2018
VAN GOGH

STARRY NIGHTS

DEAR PLANET

J.F. WILLUMSEN – COLORS & STRIPES

CANDICE BREITZ – LOVE STORY

ALPHONSE MUCHA

2017
UGO RONDINONE – VOCABULARY OF SOLITUDE

MY MUSIC

MICHAEL KVIUM – CIRCUS EUROPA

NATURE (RE)TURNS

LIGHT IN DARKNESS

GOSH! IS IT ALIVE

2016
ABDOULAYE KONATÉ

NIKI DE SAINT PHALLE

KALEIDOSCOPE

2015
GERDA WEGENER

BJØRN WIINBLAD

ART IN SUNSHINE

DAVID OSTROWSKI – THE F WORD

RANDI & KATRINE. BETWEEN TOWERS

2014
MICHAEL ANCHER AND P.S. KRØYER – FRIENDS AND RIVALS

HUNDERTWASSER – ARTIST AND ECO-ACTIVIST

THE MODEL: PALLE NIELSEN

2013
FRIDA KAHLO – A LIFE IN ART

HOTSPOT CLUJ – NEW ROMANIAN ART

CARL-HENNING PEDERSEN 100 YEARS

2012
INDIA : ART NOW

INDIA : FASHION NOW

TREFFPUNKT: BERLIN

THE ESSENCE OF COLOUR – THE ART OF QUEEN MARGRETHE II

2011
WARHOL & BASQUIAT

ANSELM REYLE

ANNA ANCHER

2010
UTOPIA: OLAFUR ELIASSON

THE WILD 80s

DIRECTOR’S CHOICE

MIRÓ – I WORK LIKE A GARDENER

2009
UTOPIA: KATHARINA GROSSE

CHINAMANIA

UTOPIA: QIU ANXIONG

MONET, RENOIR, VAN GOGH, GAUGUIN – IMPRESSIONISTS AND POSTIMPRESSIONISTS IN THE ISRAEL MUSEUM, JERUSALEM

2008
TRIUMPF OF DESIRE – DANISH AND INTERNATIONAL SURREALISM

PICASSO & WOMEN

THE SKAGEN PAINTERS – IN A NEW LIGHT

ANDREAS GOLDER – IT HAS MY NAME ON IT

2007
MAD LOVE – YOUNG ART IN DANISH PRIVATE COLLECTIONS

DUANE HANSON – SCULPTURES OF THE AMERICAN DREAM

2006
HI BOB – GREATEST HITS. NEW PAINTINGS BY PETER BONDE

GO FIGURE! YOUNG DANISH PAINTING

2005
CHAGALL’s WORLD OF LOVE

FERNAND LÉGER – MAN IN THE NEW AGE

2004
PICASSO – FOR ALL TIMES

2003
HENRY HEERUP – FAITH, HOPE AND CHARITY

2002
FERNANDO BOTERO, collaboration with Moderna Museet, Stockholm

SIGRID HJERTÉN & ISAAC GRÜNEWALD – FAMILY LIFE AND AVANT-GARDE, collaboration with Norrköpings Konstmuseum, Sweden

STOP FOR A MOMENT – PAINTING AS PRESENCE, collaboration with NIFCA, Helsinki

ASGER JORN, collaboration with Cobra Museum, Amstelveen and Kunsthalle zu Kiel

2001
ECHOES OF THE SCREAM, collaboration with the Munch Museum, Oslo

GERHARD RICHTER, IFA, Stuttgart

THE DESIRING EYE, collaboration with Moderna Museet, Stockholm

THE WILD WEST, collaboration with Denver Art Museum, Colorado

SPACE 2001 – NEW ABSTRACTION

2000
EDVARD MUNCH – THE SIMPLE LIFE, collaboration with the Munch Museum, Oslo

GÜNTHER FÖRG, collaboration with Reina Sophia, Museo Arte Contemporanea, Madrid and Museet for Samtidskunst, Oslo

VERONICA’S REVENGE, photographs from The Lambert Collection

MAN – BODY IN ART FROM 1950 TO 2000

1999
CARL-HENNING PEDERSEN AND CHAGALL

CHRISTIAN BOLTANSKI, DISAPPEARANCE

EUROPOP, A DIALOGUE WITH USA

ROBERT SMITHSON, RETROSPECTIVE, collaboration with Moderna Museet, Stockhom and Museet for Samtidskunst, Oslo

SALVADOR DALÍ – LATE WORKS

1998
COBRA 1949-1952, Collaboration with CoBrA Museum, Amsteveen

THE FERVOUR OF DADA, ERNST SCHWITTER’S COLLECTION, collaboration with Sprengelmuseum, Hannover

1997
DESIRE AND VOID, collaboration with Kunsthalle Wien and Kunstverein, Frankfurt

CLAUS CARSTENSEN, CROSS OVER
SELECTED EXHIBITIONS OF NEW AND OLD ART AT VESTSJÆLLAND MUSEUM OF ART 1986-1995

JOHAN BÜLOW’S COLLECTION of early foreign drawings. catalogue for Vestsjælland Museum of Art

KRONPRINS OG MENNESKEBARN Tegninger af Kronprins Frederik fra 1770 – 1772,
collaboration with Bomann Museum, Celle, Germany
[CROWN PRINCE AND HUMAN BEING. Drawings by Crown Prince Frederik 1770 – 1772]

KUNST X 6: LERCHE, EBBESEN, NØRGAARD, SHOKKING, RUE, JENSEN,
collaboration with Norrköpings Konstmuseum, Sweden
[ART X 6]

ROBERT SMITHSON: DRAWINGS FOR LAND ART PROJECTS
collaboration with Kunstmuseum Münster, Kunstraum München, Germany

SVEND WIIG HANSEN: PARIS – THE DOLOMITES – NEW YORK
collaboration with Stadtmuseum, Düsseldorf and Kunstmuseum Kiel

PETER BONNEN: ARBEITEN IN METAL
collaboration with Kunstmuseum Oldenburg, Germany
[PETER BONNEN: WORKS IN METAL]

BRUCE MCLEAN: PAVILIONS FOR NOTHING AND ROOMS FOR REDUNDANT GESTURES

IB AGGER: BLOMSTRENDE KIRSEBÆRTRÆER
[CHERRY TREES IN BLOOM]

CARL ANDRE: SKULPTUR OG POESI
[SCULPTURE AND POETRY]

PETER BONDE: TEGNINGER
[DRAWINGS]

CLAUS CARSTENSEN: TEGNINGER
[DRAWINGS]

DORTE DALIN OG MOGENS MØLLER: SOUL

GLEN BANKS AND HANNAH WOLVES: ART IN RUINS

BENT JENSEN: SEPARATIONS – FRA FINGER TIL MUND
[SEPARATIONS – FROM FINGER TO MOUTH]

CHRISTIAN LEMMERZ: ABFALL
[WASTE]

LARS NØRGÅRD: FLÅT(D)ENS NYHED(T)ER

SONNY TRONBORG: SORØ BILLEDER
[IMAGES OF SORØ]

KUNST X 6: FREDDIE A. LERCHE, TORBEN EBBESEN, LARS NØRGÅRD, SHOKKING OG RUE
[ART X 6: FREDDIE A. LERCHE, TORBEN EBBESEN, LARS NØRGÅRD, SHOKKING AND RUE]

SVEND DALSGAARD: FORSØG
[EXPERIMENTS]

CLAUS CARSTENSENS BIDRAG TIL SAO PAULO BIENNALEN
[CLAUS CARSTENSEN’S CONTRIBUTION TO THE SAO PAULO BIENNIAL]

SØREN ANDREASEN OG JACOB JACOBSEN: MIKRO MAKRO
[MICRO MACRO]

Christian Gether. Photo: Per Morten Abrahamsen