Kirsten Justesen:
Countess Danner

MAPS presents an exhibition featuring sculptor Kirsten Justesen’s preparatory work for the four-meter-tall Monument to Countess Danner, which now stands on Gyldenløvesgade across from Dannerhuset in Copenhagen.

Justesen’s monument portrays Countess Danner – a remarkable and controversial figure in 19th-century Danish history. Without noble background, she married King Frederik VII and became a visible actor in the transition to the constitutional monarchy. She worked actively to improve the conditions of vulnerable women and girls, leaving behind both an orphanage and a building providing free housing for “poor women of the working class.”

Monument to Countess Danner is not a traditional portrait. The sculpture takes the form of a woman’s body with a pedestal skirt, on which a timeline and accompanying objects depict the Countess’s life as a woman in her historical time – and what has since followed in the lives of Danish women.

The exhibition at MAPS brings together Justesen’s extensive preparatory work and offers a rare insight into the comprehensive artistic process behind the monument – from the first diary notes, sketches, and models to the choices and conditions that shaped the final work.

Kirsten Justesen (b. 1943) was part of the avant-garde scene of the 1960s and is a pioneer of feminist art. She has exhibited internationally since the 1970s and has received numerous honors for her lifelong artistic practice, including the Thorvaldsen Medal.

The exhibition opens in January 2026.