January 12, 2017

BOOK DONATION TO NORDIC INSTITUTE OF ART

Works from the Library of Bodil Sørensen

Nordic Institute of Art has recently received an important donation of books from the library of the late Bodil Sørensen.

Bodil Sørensen (1951–2017) was a Norwegian art historian who worked for the most of her career as a curator in the Department of Prints and Drawings in the National Gallery of Oslo (from 2003 the National Museum of Art, Architecture and Design). Never happy in the public eye, Bodil preferred to work behind the scenes. Nevertheless, she was one of our leading experts on old master drawings and prints, as well as an outstanding scholar on early collecting history in Scandinavia, and wrote her dissertation on the Danish-Norwegian collector Sophus Larpent. Sørensen published extensively on other topics as well, including a groundbreaking work on Johan Christian Dahl’s drawings from Italy. She was also the author of the catalogue raisonnée of Rolf Nesch’s prints, together with her colleague Sidsel Helliesen.

Bodil Sørensen was herself a keen book collector, always stressing the importance of a private research library. One selection of her book collection is bequeathed to the National Museum’s library, while another selection will enter the library of Nordic Institute of Art. “As a new-founded, independent research institute, this is an invaluable addition to our library,” says director Knut Ljøgodt. “We are grateful to Bodil Sørensen’s family for this generous gift, and we shall always remember her as an esteemed colleague and a good friend.”