ARoS is an

art museum An art museum or art gallery is a building or space for the display of art, usually from the museum's own Collection (artwork), collection. It might be in public or private ownership, be accessible to all, or have restrictions in place. Although ...

Aarhus Aarhus (, , ; officially spelled Århus from 1948 until 1 January 2011) is the second-largest city in Denmark and the seat of Aarhus municipality, Aarhus Municipality. It is located on the eastern shore of Jutland in the Kattegat sea and app ...

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

. The museum was established in 1859 and is the oldest public art museum in Denmark outside Copenhagen. On 7 April 2004, ARoS opened with exhibitions in a brand new modern building, 10 stories tall with a total floor area of 20,700 m² and designed by Danish architects Schmidt Hammer Lassen. Today, ARoS is one of the largest art museums in Northern Europe with a total of 624.000 visitors in 2023. Apart from the large galleries with both permanent and changing exhibitions, the ARoS building features an arts shop, a dining café and a restaurant. The architectural vision of the museum was completed in 2011, with the addition of the circular skywalk ''Your rainbow panorama'' by

Ólafur Elíasson Olafur Eliasson (; born 5 February 1967) is an Icelandic–Danish artist known for sculptured and large-scaled installation art employing elemental materials such as light, water, and air temperature to enhance the viewer's experience. In 1995, ...

. The installation has helped boost the museum's attendance, making it one of the most visited museums in Denmark.

Exhibitions

ARoS has a large art collection with works from the

Danish Golden Age The Danish Golden Age () covers a period of exceptional creative production in Denmark, especially during the first half of the 19th century.Kulturnet DanmarkGuide to the Danish Golden Age Although Copenhagen had suffered from fires, Battle of Co ...

until today, a changing selection of which are on display in the museum halls. Alongside, themed and changing exhibitions of both Danish and international artists are presented, with former events featuring renowned artists such as

, Bjørn Nørgaard, Ingvar Cronhammar, architect

Frank Gehry Frank Owen Gehry ( ; ; born February 28, 1929) is a Canadian-American architect and designer. A number of his buildings, including his private residence in Santa Monica, California, have become attractions. Gehry rose to prominence in th ...

, Paul McCarthy,

Robert Rauschenberg Milton Ernest "Robert" or "Bob" Rauschenberg (October 22, 1925 – May 12, 2008) was an American painter and graphic artist whose early works anticipated the Pop art movement. Rauschenberg is well known for his Combine painting, Combines (1954� ...

, Michael Kvium,

Bill Viola William John Viola Jr. ( , ; January 25, 1951 – July 12, 2024) was an American video artist whose artistic expression depended upon electronic, sound, and image technology in new media. His works focus on the ideas behind fundamental human ...

, Franciska Clausen,

Cindy Sherman Cynthia Morris Sherman (born January 19, 1954) is an American artist whose work consists primarily of photographic self-portraits, depicting herself in many different contexts and as various imagined characters. Her breakthrough work is often co ...

and Sarah Sze. As many other modern art galleries and museums, ARoS also pays great tribute to architecture and architects, occasionally presenting exhibitions with architectural and spacious focuses. Located in the basement is The 9 Spaces, a gallery with installation art from artists like James Turrell, Shirin Neshat, Bill Viola and Anri Sala. The number 9 refers to

Dante Alighieri Dante Alighieri (; most likely baptized Durante di Alighiero degli Alighieri; – September 14, 1321), widely known mononymously as Dante, was an Italian Italian poetry, poet, writer, and philosopher. His ''Divine Comedy'', originally called ...

The Divine Comedy The ''Divine Comedy'' (, ) is an Italian narrative poem by Dante Alighieri, begun and completed around 1321, shortly before the author's death. It is widely considered the pre-eminent work in Italian literature and one of the greatest wor ...

and the 9 circles of hell. The rooms are painted black to contrast with the bright white exterior. The roof terrace substitutes for the divine light your enter from hell. This way the whole museum is part of the travel from hell to heaven. This movement emphasised by the grand spiral staircase in the main 'museum streetscape'. The roof of the museum is dominated by the installation ''Your rainbow panorama'' by

. This circular skywalk has windows in the colors of the rainbow thereby showing the panorama of

in different colors depending on location of the viewer. The installation cost DKK million 60 ($10.7 million) to construct and was sponsored by the Realdania foundation. It was inaugurated on May 28, 2011. A second section, a glass lounge that guides visitors from the main museum building to ''Your rainbow panorama'' and houses another site-specific work opened in 2013.

History

The museum was established in 1859 and is the oldest public art museum in Denmark outside Copenhagen. The art collecting activities were initiated some years earlier in 1847 by the local art association of ''"Århus Kunstforening af 1847"'' and the first public exhibition was presented on 6 January 1859 in Aarhus' old Town Hall, located at the Cathedral, now housing the museum KØN – Gender Museum Denmark. On 6 January 2009, ARoS Aarhus Kunstmuseum celebrated its 150-year anniversary with a jubilee exhibition, displaying the same works as the very first exhibition in 1859, amongst others.

Future constructions

In the fall of 2014, ARoS announced plans for an expansion project title
"The Next Level"
It includes the monumental art installation ''"The Dome, a Skyspace by

James Turrell James Turrell (born May 6, 1943) is an American artist known for his work within the Light and Space movement. He is considered the "master of light" often creating art installations that mix natural light with artificial color through openings ...

"'', and a new underground gallery. The project has been postponed several times, but construction finally began in 2022, and it is now scheduled for completion in 2025. The Concert Hall Park surrounding the museum is also being redesigned and is also planned to re-open in 2025.

Name

The name ARoS refers to the

Old Danish The Danish language developed during the Middle Ages out of Old East Norse, the common predecessor of Danish and Swedish. It was a late form of common Old Norse. The Danish philologist Johannes Brøndum-Nielsen divided the history of Danish in ...

name of the city

, Áros, while the capitalized letters of the name hint at the

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

word for art, namely ''ars''.

Attendance

In 2010, before Eliasson's piece opened, ARoS received 221,744 visitors. Two years later, more than 551,000 visitors came to the museum. In 2017, 980,909 visitors was noted. These figure includes visitors who in one way or another have redeemed ticket (658,086) and people who have visited ARoS Butik, ARoS Café or gone through the building.Her er det rigtige besøgstal for Aros: 33 procent går i cafeen eller butikken
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Gallery

Musikhusparken 06.JPG, Entrance from the park at The Concert Halls. Aros rainbow panorama (11834896846).jpg, Nighttime view of the ARoS building. ARoS "Your rainbow" panorama under construction.jpg, "Your Rainbow Panorama" under construction. ARoS.Aarhus.2.JPG, View from "Your Rainbow Panorama". ArosIntern.JPG, Inner staircase. The white smooth walls are typical of the building's interior.

References

Sources

* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20120324013947/http://www.realdania.dk/Projekter/Byen/Aros-Himmelrummet.aspx Description of "Your rainbow panorama" by the Realdania foundation (in danish)
description of "Your rainbow panorama" by designboom.com

External links

Official websiteArticle about the museum
{{Authority control Buildings and structures completed in 2004 Museums in Aarhus Art museums and galleries in Denmark Schmidt Hammer Lassen buildings Art museums and galleries established in 1859 1859 establishments in Denmark Museums in the Central Denmark Region Tourist attractions in Aarhus Skyscrapers in Denmark Restaurants in Aarhus Coffeehouses and cafés in Aarhus