The Cheerful Givers
The Importance of Danish Art Collectors in the 20th Century

Where do the museums' pictures come from? Who were the people behind the acquisitions of a substantial number of the works that found their way to the Danish museums in the twentieth century - and who can take over their role in the next century?

With the exhibition The Cheerful Givers - The Importance of Danish Art Collectors in the 20th Century, Louisiana pays tribute to famous collectors like Bertel Thorvaldsen, the brewer Carl Jacobsen, Wilhelm Hansen, Johannes Rump, Christian Tetzen-Lund, Helge Jacobsen and others, whose generous donations laid the foundations for the Danish museums in the twentieth century and crucially influenced their development.

The exhibition turns the focus on the contributions by these pioneers, but would also like to stimulate debate about the potential for renewed fruitful cooperation between Danish museums and policy-makers, sponsors and the public sector. On the threshold of the new millennium, Louisiana wants to champion the cause of the museums and -if possible - to help improve conditions for the "new patrons" of the 21st century, public and private foundations etc.

The Cheerful Givers - The Importance of Danish Art Collectors in the 20th Century will be a large-scale exhibition with important samples
from the collections of the Danish art patrons, to which more than 30 museums have contributed loans.