Painter defends his 'horror-film' portrait of the Danish royal family
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.The painter responsible for the first official portrait of the Danish royal family for 125 years has expressed his surprise after critics likened the work variously to a horror movie poster and a badly-botched Photoshop job.
Thomas Kluge spent four years painting Queen Margrethe II and her family, including Prince Christian, who dominates the royal ensemble and has been compared to Damien, the possessed orphan in the 1976 film The Omen.
The Queen commissioned the work to mark the passage of 150 years since the House of Glucksburg took the Danish throne. It recalls a renowned 19th century painting that showed earlier generations of the family in a traditional, ballroom setting.
Speaking for the first time since the a challenging reception, Mr Klug told The Independent that he was surprised to discover people were looking at his painting in the same way as the original.
"I was trying to take out realistic depictions because we live in a democratic world and I think our Queen and her her family are now symbolic," he said. "This is satire."
Mr Klug, who is 44 and from Copenhagen, described his depiction of eight-year-old Christian, who is second in line to the throne and played football with the artist during sittings, as like that of a "toy figure".
He added: "I have put him in front of a theatre-like scene with light coming from below to show how he has not grown up but that we, the viewer, expect him to bring this kingdom into the future. I wanted to show that weight on his shoulders."
A spokesperson for the royal family in Copenhagen said it could not comment on the painting or the reaction to it but Mr Kluge said the Queen had approved the work.
"She was very kindly and warm and it was a great pleasure for me so I have a great feeling for that," he said.
"I think it is understood that it is important to play with historic symbols and place them in our democracy. We should look at our history and culture in new ways."
Queen Margrethe enjoys some of the highest popularity ratings of any European monarch and is herself an accomplished artist. She supplied the illustrations for the Danish language publication of the Lord of The Rings trilogy with the blessing of its author JRR Tolkien.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments