Arthur Köpcke (1928 - 1977) was a German-born, largely self-taught artist who played a decisive role in introducing international avant-garde art to Denmark during the 1950s and 1960s. Born in Hamburg and marked by the traumatic experiences of the Second World War, he early on developed an artistic attitude shaped by questioning and existential unrest. For him, art was not primarily an object to be produced, but a way of processing reality. A state of continuous inquiry.

In the late 1950s, he settled in Copenhagen with his Danish wife Aase (“Tut”), and together they founded Galerie Köpcke, which within a few years became a central meeting place for experimental art in Scandinavia. Here, Danish audiences were introduced to movements such as Fluxus and Nouveau Réalisme, and to artists including Daniel Spoerri, Niki de Saint Phalle, George Maciunas, and Piero Manzoni. Köpcke moved effortlessly between the roles of artist, gallerist, and organiser, becoming a key figure in the establishment of the Fluxus movement in Denmark, notably through the festival Festum Fluxorum at Nikolaj Church in 1962.