Marble, bronze, chamotte and silver were among the materials in Prince Henrik’s new sculpture “Abstract Torso”, which was presented and added to Aalborg Congress & Culture Centre’s art collection in November 2016. The work was The Prince’s third sculpture unveiled to the public in 2016. In July, The Prince unveiled the sculpture “Masculine Torso”, which now stands beside the old castle water mill in Tønder, and, in May, The Queen and Prince Henrik, The Crown Prince, Prince Christian, Princess Isabella, Prince Joachim, Princess Marie and Prince Felix participated in the unveiling of the sculpture “The Hand with the Lyre” at The Royal Danish Theatre’s “Stærekassen” in Copenhagen.

In the autumn warmth of September in Mallorca, Prince Henrik opened the exhibition “Fabulous Dialogue”, in which sculptures and poems by The Prince are combined with paintings by the late COBRA artist Carl-Henning Pedersen. In addition, parts of The Prince’s African art collection are also included in the exhibition.

The events took place the same year that Prince Henrik scaled back his official duties and retired after 40 years of work in behalf of Denmark. Thus, The Prince has gotten more time to devote himself to his passion for art, literature and music. During 2016, The Prince continued to take care of the work of several of his patronages and participated in a number of connected activities.  

Henceforth, Prince Henrik will continue to take part in specific official events, just as he did with the tradition-bound New Year’s Banquet that took place on 1 January and with the state visit of the Mexican president and first lady in April 2016.