Elsa Thoresen

Elsa Cecilie Thoresen was born May 1st 1906 in Benson, Minnesota, USA. Died August 20th 1994, in Seattle, WA, USA. 

Her father, Thore Thoresen, was a Norwegian doctor and her mother, Josephine Alice Johnson was American, born by immigrated Norwegian parents. She was married to the artist Vilhelm Bjerke- Petersen 1935–1953 and to Johnny Gouveia 1953 – 1994.

1920 
The Thoresen family moved to Oslo, Norway, Elisenbergveien 16.

1924–1927 
Studied at the Norwegian National Academy of Craft and Art Industry in Oslo.

1927-28 and 1929-30 
Studied with Professor Axel Revold at the Norwegian National Academy of Fine Arts in Oslo.

1928 
Met Vilhelm Bjerke-Petersen at the Art Academy in Oslo.


1928–1929 
Studied with Alfred Bastien at Académie Royale des Beaux-Arts in Brussels.

1929–1930 
Studied with Halfdan Strøm and Axel Revold at The Norwegian National Academy of Arts in Oslo. Visited smaller studios in Brussels and Paris.

1935 
Married Vilhelm Bjerke-Petersen in Copenhagen.

1937 
October, together with her husband traveled to Paris, where they stayed until March 1938. Together they started to collect works by other artists.

1939 
Inauguration with Bjerke-Petersen, painted murals at Højdevangens school in the Amager district in Copenhagen.

1939 
Inauguration with Bjerke-Petersen, painted murals at the Ved Volden apartment building, Christianshavn in Copenhagen. 

1939 
Visited Halmstad in June and met with the members of the Halmstad Group. 

1940 
Her son Kai was born (died 2016).

1941 
Her daughter Alice was born.

1944 
April 17th the family escaped to Sweden. They settled in Stockholm, Attundavägen 14 in Norra Ängby. Spent the summers in Söndrum outside Halmstad.

1946-1947 
The family traveled to New York May 31st and returned to Sweden June 30th 1947. Moved to Grev Turegatan 16 B in Stockholm, an apartment that belonged to Greta Thorén.

1948 
Bjerke-Petersen and Elsa Thoresen rent Erik Olson's home and studio in Halmstad from April to June and then spent a few months in Stendahl’s house in Söndrum outside Halmstad.

1953 
Divorced Bjerke-Petersen and moved with her two children to the USA. Married Johnny Gouveia on November 14th 1953 in New York. Settled first in Washington DC, then to Flushing, New York and later upstate New York. After a few years moved to Seattle. From the late 1950s to the mid-1960s she supported the family by working as a clerk in the lamps and paintings department of a large Seattle department store, The Bon Marché.
She also played the violin.
Visited Copenhagen and Stockholm 1985 and 1988.
Died in Seattle August 20th 1994.

Exhibitions:
1936
October, Arnbaks Kunsthandel, Copenhagen, with Erik Olson och Vilhelm Bjerke-Petersen

1937
Surrealism i Norden (Surrealism in the Nordic countries), Skånska Konstmuseum, 
Lund University (outside the catalogue)

1938
Exposition Internationale du Surréalisme, Galerie Beaux Arts, Paris, organised by André Breton  and Paul Éluard. January 17th - February 24th

1939   
Holst Halvorsens Kunsthandel, Oslo, together with Vilhelm Bjerke-Petersen, Oct. 24 - Nov. 7

1940   
Surrealisme (Surrealistiske demonstrationer), Raadhuspladsens Udstillingssal Copenhagen, with Erik Olson, Vilhelm Bjerke-Petersen, Freddie, and Harry Carlsson

1944   
Färg och Form, Stockholm, Group exhibition with Alf-Jörgen Aas, Vilhelm Bjerke-Petersen, Henrik Inne and Egon Møller-Nielsen, catalogue 162

1945   
Färg och Form, Stockholm, Christmas exhibition, catalogue 182

1947   
Le Surréalisme en 1947, Galerie Maeght, Paris 

1948   
Halmstads musikhandel, Halmstad, with Vilhelm Bjerke-Petersen, April 24 - May 15 

1948   
Liniens udstilling, Den Frie, Copenhagen, July 31st - August 15th

1950   
Louis Hahnes Konsthandel, Stockholm

1950   
The London Gallery, London, with Yves Tanguy and Vilhelm Bjerke-Petersen

1952   
Konsthallen Örebro, with Vilhelm Bjerke-Petersen

1952   
Värmlands Museum, Karlstad, September 6th - 24th with Vilhelm Bjerke-Petersen

1970th 
Exhibits at smaller galleries in Seattle, such as The National Gallery at The Bon Marché, 1972 and Omnus Gallery ca 1974

1997   
Den Forvandlede drøm, Surrealismen i 30’erne, Paris-Copenhagen-Halmstad, 
Kunstforeningen, Copenhagen and Mjellby Art Centre, Halmstad

2018   
Kvindernes surrealisme, GL Strand, Copenhagen

2018   
Kvindernes surrealisme, Sønderjyllands Kunstmuseum, Tønder, Denmark

2020   
Fantastische Frauen – Surreale Welten von Meret Oppenheim  bis Frida Kahlo, Schirn Kunsthalle, Frankfurt

2020   
Fantastiske Kvinder – Surreelle verdener fra Meret Oppenheim til Frida Kahlo, Louisiana, Denmark

2020  
Surrealismens kvinnor, Mjällby Art Museum, Halmstad

2021  
Flukten fra Fornuften: Nordisk Kunst og Det Okkulte, SKMU Sørlandets Kunstuseum, Kristiansand, Norway

2021  
Modernismens Pionerer. Et utvalg fra Tangen-samlingen, SKMU Sørlandets Kunstuseum, Kristiansand, Norway

2022  
En anden surrealisme, Den Frie, Copenhagen

2022 – 2023 
En anden surrealisme, MSJ Kunstmuseet i Tønder, Denmark

2022 – 2023 
Konst, kamratskap och en doft av hav – Söndrum 1944 – 1956, Hallands Konstmuseum, Halmstad, May 21st – April 9th 2023

2023   
We Kiss The Earth, COBRA Museum voor Moderne Kunst, Amstelveen, Holland

2023  
På armlängds avstånd, Artepilag, Stockholm, selection from the Tangen collection, Norway

2023   
Surréalisme au féminin?, Musée de Montmartre, Paris

2023   
Microcosmos – 20 miniatures, Belenius, Stockholm

2024 - 1925 
A Legacy Rediscovered – Northwest Women Artists 1920–1970, Cascadia Art Museum, Edmonds, WA, USA

Museums and public collections:
Sønderjyllands Kunstmuseum, Tønder, Denmark
Museum Jorn, Silkeborg, Denmark 
Statens Museum for Kunst, Copenhagen, Denmark
Fuglsang Kunstmuseum, Guldborgsund, Denmark
Nasjonalmuseet, Oslo, Norway
Canica art collection, Oslo, Norway
AKO Kunststiftelse, Tangen-collection, Kristansand, Norway
Örebro Läns Museum, Örebro, Sweden
Hallands Konstmuseum, Halmstad, Sweden

Literature:
Carl V. Petersen Danske Kunstnere, Arthur Jensens Förlag, Copenhagen 1937.
André Breton, Dictionnaire abrégé du surréalisme, Galerie Beaux-Arts, Paris 1938.
Plastique, issue 3, ed. Sophie Taeuber-Arp, Paris och New York 1938.
Marcel Jean, Histoire de la Peinture Surréaliste, Paris 1959.
Sarane Alexandrian, Surrealist Art, Paris, London 1969/70.
Den Forvandlede drøm, Surrealismen i 30’erne, Paris-København-Halmstad, Kunstforeningen, Copenhagen and Mjellby Art Centre, Halmstad 1997.
Naja Pedersen, Vilhelm Bjerke-Petersens og Elsa Thoresens Udsmykninger Ved Volden 1939, Projekt Ved Volden, 2012.
Kvindernes surrealisme, GL Strand, Copenhagen 2018.
Fantastische Frauen/Fantastiske Kvinder, Schirn Kunsthalle/Louisiana, Frankfurt/Humlebaek 2020.
Konst, kamratskap och en doft av hav – Söndrum 1944 – 1956, Hallands Konstmuseum, Halmstad 2022 - 2023
We Kiss The Earth, Cobra Museum, Amstelveen Holland 2023.
På armlängds avstånd, selection from the Tangen-collection, Artepilag, Stockholm 2023.
Surréalisme au féminin?, Musée de Montmartre, Paris 2023.
Thomas Millroth, Good Luck Elsa Thoresen, first monograph, 204 pages, English and Swedish, Carlsson Bokförlag , Stockholm, August 2024.