AKO Art Foundation

The AKO Art Foundation (also known as AKO Foundation and AKO Kunststiftelse) is a Norwegian philanthropic foundation established in 2013 by financier Nicolai Tangen. It makes grants in three priority areas: improving education and the wellbeing of young people, promoting the arts, and combating the climate emergency. The foundation adopts a proactive approach to grant-making, does not seek unsolicited applications, and aims to be a significant and reliable partner to its beneficiaries, often through multi-year relationships. It prides itself on lean administration and fast decision-making. A separate but closely linked entity, AKO Kunststiftelse, was created in 2016 to collect, purchase, and make modernist art from the 20th century accessible to the public. Nicolai Tangen granted the foundation perpetual discretionary rights to his art collection, the world's largest and most comprehensive private collection of Nordic modernism. The foundation played a key role in financing and establishing the Kunstsilo museum in Kristiansand, Norway. The values of the art foundation derive from AKO Foundation, which was established in 2013 with capital of 200 million Norwegian kroner. As a condition for his position as head of Norway's sovereign wealth fund (Oljefondet), Nicolai Tangen was required to divest, among other things, his ownership stake in the investment company AKO Capital. That stake was transferred to the charitable AKO Foundation in 2020. By the end of that year, the foundation had increased the value of its assets to over 7.5 billion Norwegian kroner. The art foundation owns the Tangen Collection's 5,500 works (as of 2024), which are available to the Kunstsilo. According to the art foundation's 2023 accounts, AKO Foundation has contributed a total of 900 million Norwegian kroner to Kunstsilo, including the value of the Tangen Collection. The contribution also includes 205 million kroner for reconstruction, i.e., 30 percent of those costs. The board chair of the art foundation is Arvid Grundekjøn, and Stephan Lange Jervell, Anniken Haugen Jebsen, Bentein Baardson, and John G. Bernander are board members.

The AKO Art Foundation traces its origins to the establishment of AKO Foundation in 2013 with capital of 200 million Norwegian kroner. It was founded by Nicolai Tangen, a Norwegian financier and founder of the investment firm AKO Capital. In 2016, a separate entity, AKO Kunststiftelse, was created with the purpose of collecting, purchasing, and making 20th-century modernist art accessible to the public. Nicolai Tangen granted the art foundation perpetual discretionary rights to his art collection, which is the world's largest and most comprehensive private collection of Nordic modernism. In 2020, as a condition for his appointment as head of Norway's sovereign wealth fund (Oljefondet), Nicolai Tangen was required to divest, among other assets, his ownership stake in AKO Capital. That stake was transferred to the charitable AKO Foundation. By the end of 2020, the foundation had increased the value of its assets to over 7.5 billion Norwegian kroner. The art foundation has played an important role in financing and establishing the Kunstsilo museum in Kristiansand, Norway. According to the art foundation's 2023 accounts, AKO Foundation has contributed a total of 900 million Norwegian kroner to Kunstsilo, including the value of the Tangen Collection. The contribution also includes 205 million kroner for reconstruction, representing 30 percent of those costs. As of 2024, the art foundation owns the Tangen Collection's 5,500 works, which are available to the Kunstsilo. The board chair of the art foundation is Arvid Grundekjøn, and the board members are Stephan Lange Jervell, Anniken Haugen Jebsen, Bentein Baardson, and John G. Bernander.

• 2024

  Art foundation owns 5,500 works of the Tangen Collection available to Kunstsilo.

• 2023

  Art foundation accounts show AKO Foundation has contributed 900 million Norwegian kroner to Kunstsilo, including 205 million for reconstruction.

• 2020

  Nicolai Tangen transfers his stake in AKO Capital to AKO Foundation; foundation assets exceed 7.5 billion Norwegian kroner by year-end.

• 2016

  AKO Kunststiftelse created to collect and make 20th-century modernist art accessible.

• 2013

  AKO Foundation established with capital of 200 million Norwegian kroner.

A cost-effective, fast-moving philanthropic foundation focused on education, youth wellbeing, arts, and climate, and steward of a major Nordic modernism art collection.

1. 1Home - AKO Foundationakofoundation.org
2. 2AKO Art Foundation - Wikidatawikidata.org
3. 3AKO Kunststiftelse - Wikipedia (Norwegian)no.wikipedia.org