Richard Winther 100 years

In 2026, the Nivaagaard Collection will mark the 100th anniversary of the birth of Danish artist Richard Winther (1926–2007) with a major exhibition and a publication focusing on this many-faceted and original figure in Danish art.

The Nivaagaard Collection marks the 100th anniversary of the birth of the Danish artist Richard Winther (1926–2007) with a major exhibition and a publication about this wide-ranging figure in Danish art – not least because Winther lived in Nivå for a large part of his life.

Richard Winther was an extraordinarily prolific artist who continuously experimented with new forms of expression and artistic media. He approached art in an investigative manner and often worked very systematically, almost like a researcher. Winther engaged with everything from painting, photography, sculpture, printmaking, film, music and literature to public art.

From 1966 to 1987, Richard Winther lived in Nivå and during this period referred to himself, in allusion to Italian Renaissance masters, as Ricardo da Nivå. Alongside his own artistic practice, Winther was involved in various artistic communities, including as a co-founder of Linien II, as a teacher at the Experimental Art School (Eks-Skolen), and as a member of the artist group Arme og Ben from 1980 to 1986, Winther was also a professor at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts in Copenhagen.

The special exhibition presents examples of Richard Winther’s enormous artistic range, as well as works from his private collection, which includes major artistic figures such as Giacometti, Picasso, Max Ernst and Sonja Ferlov Mancoba—works he later donated to Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek and SMK – The National Gallery of Denmark. The insight into Winther’s own art collection forms a distinct section of the exhibition, staged as a kind of total installation realised in collaboration with a contemporary artist.

Richard Winther had an unstoppable urge to collect, investigate and experiment, and his rich productivity continues to inspire new generations.