About Aage Arbjerg – Danish Artist and Painter

Aage Arbjerg is a Danish artist and painter whose work spans more than half a century – from surreal, psychedelic paintings of the 1960s to vivid Scandinavian landscapes. Here you'll find his art as canvas prints and art prints, made from his original paintings.

Aage Arbjerg was born in 1948 at Hampen Mill, in the heart of rural Jutland, Denmark, where his father worked at the mill. As a small boy he saw a reproduction of a painting by the Danish colourist Olaf Rude hanging in his school's staff room – a few hens in a thicket, a red house behind them. The clear, confident colours made a lasting impression, and they became the compass he has followed ever since.

In 1956 the family moved to the town of Randers, which has been his home ever since. He trained as a house painter – a craft that gave him a deep respect for materials, surfaces and colour. At 18 he became a student of Sven Dalsgaard, one of Denmark's most experimental artists, known for his surrealism, conceptual art and paintings of the Danish flag. Under Dalsgaard's influence Aage began painting surreal, psychedelic art, and in 1967, at just 19, he exhibited for the first time at a juried Danish art exhibition. Many of the mid-century art prints in this shop come from those years – among them Danish Tie from 1968, with its red tie and white cross.

In the 1970s he explored concept and object art, from miniature windmills in plastic display cases to collages of hats and ties. He also created large murals and decorations for schools, housing estates and the children's ward at the local hospital – art made for everyday life, not only for galleries. In 1981 he co-founded the Randers Art School, where he has taught drawing and painting to generations of local artists.

Later he returned to landscape painting. He prefers to paint outdoors, in front of the motif, noting the nuances of colour and turning them into his own vivid interpretations of the Nordic coast and countryside. He has painted in Europe, Scandinavia, Mexico, Cuba and the USA – but a trip to Hirsholmene, a tiny group of islands in the Kattegat sea, is just as much an expedition for him. He calls it finding the colour of a place. In 2018, when he turned 70, Randers Art Museum honoured him with a retrospective exhibition of that very name: The Colour of Place.

I'm Jeppe, Aage's son. Art has always been part of my life, and I started Arbjerg Nordic to bring my father's work to new walls around the world. Every canvas print and art print is made from his original paintings and produced close to you, so it travels a shorter distance to your home. Whether you're looking for colourful retro wall art, a surreal statement piece or a calm Scandinavian landscape, each work carries a real story – and when you hang one, that story continues.