Helle Thygesen
A story about things
Helle Thygesen, founder of Helle Thygesen Art & Antiques, always seeks beauty, and has a love for beautiful things. It all started with a box that she explored as a child, but her passion can perhaps also be traced back to her great grandfather the sculptor Einar Utzon-Frank.
How did your interest in things occur?
I vividly recall the day my father brought home a small antique cabinet filled with numerous small drawers. Each drawer held a hidden treasure – a vast collection of conches and snail shells, all neatly labeled with aged, yellowed tags. As a child, I was fascinated with cataloging and organizing little treasures, and I suppose my father noticed that early on. He also had a black box with a glass lid, where he kept curiosities like old Roman coins and red wax seals – to my young eyes, rare and exotic objects from his travels. I was mesmerized by that box. Growing up with divorced parents, I was probably caught between my father’s passion for art and antiques, and my mother’s focus on creating a relaxed home, less centered around material things. I often imagine how freeing it would be to feel less attached to material things, yet today, my love for art and objects plays a deeply positive role in my life.
Which item in your home do you feel the most connected to?
I've inherited many things from my father that I remember from my childhood. There’s a painting that hung above the table where I had breakfast every morning, and a collection of small hand-painted plates we used to search for together at French markets. Among other things I have inherited from him is a beautiful dish by Thorvald Bindesbøll. It has been in my home for many years, and it also means a lot to me because it was one of his favourite possessions. My father also collected Kaare Klint’s addition sofas, and my sister and I would laugh about how he kept adding to the collection. After my father passed, my aunt showed me an old photograph of their childhood home, and there in the living room were the same sofas. It made me realize how even furniture can carry with it emotions, memories, and a sense of belonging.
“After my father passed, my aunt showed me an old photograph of their childhood home, and there in the living room were the same sofas. It made me realize how even furniture can carry with it emotions, memories, and a sense of belonging.”
To be surrounded by something that we find beautiful can also have an impact on us, right?
To be surrounded by something that I find beautiful and interesting means a lot to me. In a way, objects can be an extension of who we are. It might sound exaggerated, but I have an affection for these things. Looking at a beautiful thing brings me joy and often it is connected to a story that makes me reflect.
What have you inherited from you dad who has clearly been a great source of inspiration?
Yes, it may be in my DNA. My great grandfather was a sculptor (Einar Utzon-Frank). A book was published on his vast collection of art and antiques, aptly titled Many Kinds of Things. This love for art and objects, spanning different periods and styles, has been a family trait for generations. My father’s auction house was a fixture of my childhood, and art became a natural part of daily life. From him I got an eye, an eye for beautiful things. I use this in my work every day.
Also, I think I have inherited a love of beauty that can sometimes be reviled, because art should also challenge you and provoke a reaction. But personally, I’m drawn more to beauty, and I probably seek it out in everything I do, even in the books I choose to read.
From my parents I also inherited a love for France, and I almost only sell French art and objects. My mother was a French teacher in high school and often travels to Paris, and in the 80’s my father bought a house in France where we spent all our summers. When I turned 18, I moved to Provence to study for a year and ended up staying there for three years before moving to Paris where I lived for five years and more or less by a coincidence got a job within real estate, renting out and selling luxury apartments. A wonderful job with wonderful people and of course some incredible Paris apartments.”
Helle & her father in Aix-en-Provence, late '90s
What was the reason for founding Helle Thygesen Art & Antiques?
When my father passed away suddenly 15 years ago, it was a wake-up call. I was not sure if my job at the time was the right path for me, and it made me rethink how I wanted to spend my time. I spontaneously decided to enroll in a bachelor art history program at the University of Copenhagen. Afterwards, I was very lucky to get a job at Tina Seidenfaden Busck’s gallery, I knew Tina as she had been working with my father when we were young. Eventually, I decided to start on my own. I had always wanted to be self-employed but hadn’t been sure of the business case. Over the years, I had made various business plans for different projects, but this time, I didn’t need one. It all felt so natural.
Do the items that follow you have anything in common?
In general, I am very drawn to shape. I have been self-employed for almost 10 years and of course my aesthetic has developed along the way. I find myself more interested in older objects now. In Denmark in particular, we have a strong tendency to follow the same trends, and it can be visually exhausting.
So, when I discover something that I haven’t seen a thousand times before, I know that it will also be interesting to my customers. I have an almost unhealthy obsession with the collections of Yves Saint Laurent and Pierre Bergé and find their lifelong dedication to beauty fascinating and extraordinary. I don´t live like this myself, however I love the idea of always searching for the next rare find.
What do you collect yourself?
I don´t have a specific collection, but I like small objects – small sculptures, small boxes. Miniatures in all forms. Perhaps it can be traced back to the hours I spent gazing into my father’s black box of treasures.
You are inspired by the book French Style. Can you share a few words on the philosophy behind this?
For a long time, I’d had the book French Style by Suzanne Slesin on my list of books I wanted to read. One evening, while searching for it online, I suddenly saw it in my own bookshelf. Through the years I have inherited many books, especially from my father, but I was not aware of this one. When I saw it in my bookshelf, I felt this special connection with him. It was special to discover that I had the same interest in a book that he bought maybe 30 years ago.
I love the philosophy behind this book – that you don’t build up a home from scratch but rather from a mix of things passed down to you and what you collect through the years as you develop your own taste and style. There’s joy in the objects my family has collected, and I find meaning in building on that. It’s a mindset that perhaps comes with age, appreciating being surrounded by things that tell stories that you wish to pass on. At the same time, I love my children’s resistance to my aesthetics; they dream of living in a minimalistic modern home, but I wouldn’t be surprised if the family gene for collecting will surface eventually, just wait and see.
Things can be storytellers and leave traces. What traces do you wish to leave with the things you surround yourself with?
When I look at this in a broader perspective, I wish – along with a lot of other important things – to introduce my children to the many joys of beauty, be it through travel, a fantastic book or the things we surround ourselves with. Perhaps one day, a painting that I have passed down to them will mean something special to them, or a specific object will evoke a fun memory. After all, this is what objects can do – leave traces of a time that is no longer here.
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