HM Queen Margrethe’s artistic work

Read more about HM Queen Margrethe and art.

Queen Margrethe has been fascinated with drawing since her childhood and has maintained the interest into her adult life, in which creative work has become a prioritized activity with a fixed day of the week in a busy calendar. Queen Margrethe’s artistic work became publicly recognized after Her Majesty designed the annual Christmas seal in 1970 and, at the end of the 1970s, produced prototypes of the illustrations for Tolkien’s trilogy The Lord of The Rings. Since then, Queen Margrethe has been constantly active in a wide variety of artistic areas such as painting and watercolors, découpage clipping, embroidery, church textiles, and design of scenography and costumes for ballet performances and film, among other things.

A large portion of Queen Margrethe’s works have been displayed at exhibitions in Denmark and abroad since the mid-1980s.

Childhood photo of Princess Margrethe, shown drawing. Photo: H.M. Kongens Håndbibliotek, Kongernes Samling ©

Exhibitions with Queen Margrethe’s art

  • Kunstmuseet Køge Skitsesamling, 1988
  • Glasmuseet, Ebeltoft, 1988
  • Millesgården, Stockholm, 1989
  • C. Andersens Hus, Odense, 1988-89 
  • Blaafarveværket, Norway, 1991 
  • Baron Boltens Gård, Copenhagen, 1991
  • Holtegaard 1993 and Herning Kunstmuseum 1993-94
  • Schloss Bourglinster, Luxembourg, 1994
  • Århus Kunstbygning, 1998
  • Marienlyst Slot, Elsinore, 1998
  • Dansk Centralbibliotek, Flensborg, 1998
  • Nationalmuseum, Reykjavik (church textiles), 1998
  • Theatermuseum der Landeshauptstadt Düsseldrof, 1998-99
  • Galleri J.M.S. (with Dorte Foss), Oslo, 1999
  • Odense Rådhus and H.C. Andersens Museum, Odense, 2000
  • Det Nationale Kunstmuseum, Bucharest, 2000
  • Amalienborgmuseet, Copenhagen, 2000
  • Sofiero Slot (with Crown Princess Margareta), Helsingborg, 2002
  • Karen Blixen Museet (découpage), Rungsted, 2002
  • Blaafarveværket, Norway, 2003
  • Didrichsens Kunstmuseum, Helsingfors, 2002-03
  • Yamanashi Hemslöjd, Tokyo, Japan, 2003
  • Brandts Klædefabrik, Odense, and Waldemarsudde (with Prince Eugen), Stockholm 2003-04
  • Sønderborg Slot, 2005
  • The Danish Cultural Institute, Edinburgh, 2005
  • Nationalmuseet, Copenhagen, 2005
  • Museet Holmen, Løgumkloster, 2005
  • Museo Stibbert, Firenze, Italy, 2006
  • Bakkehusmuseet (with Prince Henrik), Copenhagen, 2007
  • Vitskøl Kloster, Vendsyssel, 2007
  • Børglum Kloster, Vendsyssel, 2008
  • Museet for Religiøs Kunst, Lemvig, 2009
  • C. Andersens Hus, Odense, 2009
  • Museo Franz Meyer, Mexico, 2010
  • The Meridian International Center, Washington, USA, 2010
  • Prince Gong’s Palace, Beijing, China, 2010
  • Skovgaard Museet, Viborg, 2010
  • Tokyo, Japan, 2011
  • ARKEN, Ishøj, 2012
  • Eremitagen, Saint Petersburg, Russia, 2012
  • Palazzo Massimo, Rome, 2012
  • ARoS; Aarhus 2013
  • Xi'an Museum, Xi'an, China, 2014
  • Landesmuseum, Zürich, Switzerland, 2014
  • Rosendal (with HM Queen Sonja), Norway, 2015
  • Kawasaki City Museum, Japan, 2017
  • Anjo City Museum of History, Japan, 2017
  • Sayama City Museum, Japan, 2017
  • Postal Museum, Tokyo, Japan, 2017
  • Katuaq (with Prins Henrik), Nuuk, 2017
  • Amalienborgmuseet, Copenhagen, 2018
  • Museum Silkeborg, 2019-2020
  • Museet for Religiøs Kunst, Lemvig, 2019
  • Prince Gong's Palace, Beijing, China, 2019
  • Koldinghus Slot, 2021
  • St Katharine’s Church, Den Danske Kirke i London, 2021

Queen Margrethe’s art

Read more about Queen Margrethe’s various artistic areas.