Danish Prime Ministers - a satirical portrait

Fogh as a caveman brandishing his club, Nyrup in a much too small cycle-helmet and Schlüter fumbling with the carpet… What the writer of an article may need many words to explain the cartoonist can capture in a few simple strokes, and so that the message gets straight through to the reader relaxing with his newspaper at home.

Experience a political history of Denmark through satirical drawings and caricatures from the last 150 years.

On the 17th of May the Royal Library opens its doors to a new exhibition with satirical drawings of Danish Prime Ministers, and we are happy to invite the public inside our living room where armchairs, lamps, coffee tables and a television or two create the backdrop for the exhibition. This is a place for you to sit down, savour some of the very finest political caricarues and enjoy a quiet laugh. The artists serve their political comments on a plate and let the drawings of Danish Prime Ministers from the middle of the 19th century and up till now illustrate the interaction between democracy, satire, and freedom of speech through more than 150 years.

The tradition of satirical drawings is old. For decades cartoonists have contributed to the political debate with their witty, sharp observations. It has become the way in which the artsist have been given a free hand in expressing their thoughts and criticism in an entertaining, popular and intelligent fashion.

The exhibition, curated by historian and head of research Steffen Heiberg, The Museum of National History at Frederiksborg Castle, and cartoonist and member of the Cartoon Museum Board, the Royal Library, Claus Seidel, is built up around the individual prime ministers. The main emphasis is on the artists who had a marked influence on the perception of the Prime Minister in question - from Alfred Schmidt who created J.C. Christensens foxy image, to Bo Bojesen’s ‘Venstre Vikings’ and Roald Als who has turned our present Prime Minister into a caveman.

The exhibition presents more than 200 drawings, several of which can be described as classics in Danish political satire. It is, of course, the original drawings that are being exhibited, so that one may get an impression of the high artistic level, which has always characterized political satire in Denmark.

Freedom of thought
The exhibition Danish Prime Ministers – a satirical portrait is part of our spring theme at The Black Diamond, where we bring freedom of thoughtm freedom of speach and freedom of artistic expression into focus with exhibitions, debates and lectures.