A Lifetime. Mature Women in the Arts. 

The exhibition A Lifetime: Mature Women in Art focuses on an aspect that has so far been largely overlooked: ageing. While previous projects on women artists from the pioneering generation have primarily addressed gender and representation, this exhibition explores why the ageing female body has so rarely been met with recognition and respect. The project places both the artist’s life course and the aesthetics of ageing at the centre, contributing to a more nuanced art‑historical narrative.

The project examines women artists who confronted society’s fixation on youthful beauty while witnessing the ageing of their own bodies. Studying their works today not only increases the visibility of overlooked artists, but also highlights their empathetic depictions of bodies marked by age.

The exhibition is based on a concept by the American art historian Alice Price, who wrote her PhD dissertation on Anna Ancher. Price is an Adjunct Assistant Professor at the Tyler School of Art and Architecture, Temple University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She developed the curatorial concept in collaboration with Ribe Art Museum, Skovgaard Museum, and Bornholm Art Museum.

The exhibition is accompanied by a research‑based catalogue featuring articles by Alice Price, Carina Rech, Marie Laulund, Yvette Brackmann, and Pernille Rom Bruun.