Else Alfelt (16 September 1910 – 9 August 1974) was a Danish artist who specialized in abstract paintings, and a member of the avant-garde COBRA movement - one of its only two female members. Alfelt was involved with the major avant-garde art movements in Denmark from the 1930s through the 1950s, working in an abstract idiom of colorful prismatic compositions. She was married to Carl-Henning Pedersen, another prominent CoBrA member.
Early life and education
Alfelt was born in Copenhagen to the parents Carl Valdemar Ahlefeldt (1882–1954) and Edith Alexandra Regine Julie Thomsen (1893–1938). She began to paint in an early age and remained self-taught as an artist. When her parents divorced while Else was very young, she was sent away to an orphanage by her father's new wife. Alfelt learned to paint around age 12 by trying to capture staff and other children at the orphanage.
At age 15, Alfelt attended the Technical School in Copenhagen for two years. Her training worked to prepare her to apply to the Art Academy in Copenhagen where she was ultimately turned down. According to her museum website, “the rejection was made on the grounds that she already possessed the necessary painting skills.” In addition to paintings she also produced several mosaics.
She was awarded the Tagea Brandt Rejselegat in 1961.