The Scandinavia House in New York welcomed a very special guest artist last night to open their latest exhibition, “Prize Prints: the Queen Sonja Print Award”—none other than Her Majesty Queen Sonja of Norway. The show highlights the prize she established in 2011 with the Norwegian artists Ørnulf Opdahl and the late Kjell Nupen to support emerging artists who work in printmaking, a medium the art-loving monarch practices herself. It includes prints by the first two recipients of the biennial award, Tiina Kivinen (2012) and Svend-Allan Sørensen (2014), as well as the prize’s three founders. Charmingly confessing her nerves in a faltering voice—“I must admit I’m both thrilled and a bit anxious tonight”—Queen Sonja explained her longtime desire to found such an award, now the world’s largest graphic arts prize, the award’s opening to international applicants for its 2016 prize (it was previously reserved for artists from the five Nordic countries) and the establishment of a new artist-in-residency grant for Nordic artists to come work at Universal Limited Art Editions in Long Island, in memory of Kjell Nupen. “What is art but a way of seeing?” the queen concluded, quoting Saul Bellow. “I invite you all to see for yourselves and I hope you will enjoy it.” The show runs until 1 August.
