Carl-Henning Pedersen & Else Alfelts Museum

A colourful universe in the heart of Jutland

The Carl-Henning Pedersen & Else Alfelts Museum forms a striking splash of colour in Herning’s Birk Centerpark, where art, architecture and imagination merge. Conceived as an artist museum devoted to the married painters Carl-Henning Pedersen and Else Alfelt, it holds more than 6,000 works spanning paintings, watercolours, sculptures, mosaics and ceramics. The collection was largely donated by Pedersen himself, who wanted a permanent home for the couple’s visionary art. From the moment you approach the building, the museum declares its difference. The exterior walls are clad in ceramic tiles populated by fantastical creatures and floating symbols in vivid reds, blues and greens, echoing Pedersen’s expressive fable imagery. Rather than preparing you to stand back and observe, the architecture invites you into a storybook universe where the boundary between inside and outside gently dissolves.

Architecture shaped by imagination

When the museum opened in 1976, it consisted of a single circular exhibition building wrapped around a central courtyard. The rounded form creates a flowing route through the galleries and an almost meditative rhythm as you wander past the works. In 1993, a dramatic three-sided pyramid was added, a sculptural tribute to Else Alfelt’s lyrical mountain landscapes and fascination with crystalline forms. Later, in 2015, a new underground passage connected the original museum to Angligården, a former shirt factory nearby. This extension added spacious exhibition halls and allowed the museum to integrate one of its most monumental works, Pedersen’s vast mosaic “The Play of Fantasy about the Wheel of Life,” originally created in 1968. Moving through these transitions – circular to triangular, daylight to subterranean – becomes part of the artistic experience.

The art of Carl-Henning Pedersen and Else Alfelt

Carl-Henning Pedersen is closely associated with the CoBrA movement, and his work is filled with spontaneous brushwork, intense colour and recurring motifs such as birds, mythical beasts and celestial symbols. Many canvases seem to hover between dream and myth, rooted in reality yet ultimately belonging to a realm of fantasy and adventure. The galleries often highlight the evolution of his style, from early experiments to later, more expansive compositions and mosaics. Else Alfelt’s works offer a complementary voice: quieter at first glance, yet deeply poetic. She often painted abstracted mountain ranges, swirling cosmic forms and subtly modulated colour fields that evoke both landscape and inner states. In dialogue, their works reveal a shared search for a spiritual dimension in art, one that reaches beyond straightforward representation into something timeless and universal.

Sculptures, mosaics and royal connections

The museum is not limited to canvases. Large-scale mosaics, ceramic reliefs and sculptural elements are integrated into both the building and outdoor areas, turning courtyards and facades into extensions of the galleries. One highlight is the monumental mosaic in Angligården, where serpentine lines and radiant colours sweep across the walls in an almost cinematic flow. In recent years, the museum has also become home to a significant selection of sculptures by Prince Henrik of Denmark. Deposited from a royal private collection, these imaginative animal figures and hybrid creatures resonate intriguingly with Pedersen’s own fabled bestiary. Together, they underline a shared delight in the borderland where reality and myth overlap.

Changing exhibitions and creative atmosphere

Throughout the year, the museum stages changing hangings that re-curate its rich holdings and bring in works by other artists, often focusing on CoBrA connections or related international currents. These shifts mean that repeat visits can feel fresh, with new constellations of works and perspectives on the collection’s depth. Alongside the exhibitions, the museum hosts talks, concerts and activities that animate the spaces with sound and movement. Despite its substantial size, the atmosphere remains intimate and contemplative. Curved corridors, controlled light and glimpses of courtyard or sky encourage unhurried looking. Whether you are already familiar with CoBrA or discovering this chapter of Danish modern art for the first time, the museum offers an inviting, self-contained universe where colour and imagination take centre stage.