Elsa Thoresen

The artist Elsa Thoresen was born in the USA but of Norwegian descent. She spent several years in Oslo, where she also received her education. For a period, she studied at the Academie des Beaux-Arts in Brussels, Belgium. Later, Thoresen moved to Denmark where she married the artist Vilhelm Bjerke Petersen. Both were central figures in the radical Danish surrealism, a group that directed its critique against the Nazi German occupiers during the war. However, they managed to escape to Sweden, where they closely associated with the artists of the Halmstadsgruppen.

Thoresen was notably appreciated by the international surrealism's leading figure André Breton. He selected her works for the movement's major exhibitions in 1947 and 1948. After fleeing to Sweden, she worked in both Sweden and Denmark for a few years but returned to the USA in 1953. Over the years, Elsa Thoresen faded into obscurity, but her artistry has been rediscovered in recent years. In 2018, her works were presented for the first time in many years at the exhibition Kvindernes surrealism at Kunstforeningen Gl. Stranden and the art museum in Tønder in Denmark, and at Mjellby Art Museum in Sweden.