Sonja Henie won more Olympic and World titles than any other ladies figure skater. She later became very popular on the silver screen, and at the height of her acting career she was one of the highest paid stars in Hollywood.

Sonja Henie won the senior Norwegian championships, at the age of 9. She represented Norway at the 1924 Winter Olympics, eleven years old. Henie won the first of an unprecedented ten World Figure Skating Championships in 1927 at the age of fourteen, and her first Olympic gold medal the following year. She also won six consecutive European championships.

Henie is credited with being the first figure skater to adopt the short skirt costume in figure skating, wear white boots, and make use of dance choreography. Her innovative skating techniques and glamorous demeanor transformed the sport permanently and confirmed its acceptance as a legitimate sport in the Winter Olympics.

In 1956 Sonja Henie married her third husband, the wealthy shipping magnate Niels Onstad. The marriage of Sonja Henie and Niels Onstad, and Sonja Henie’s ensuing interest in art came at a time when she had already started to withdraw from her professional career and finally found the peace and quiet to concentrate on her other talents.

Eventually Niels Onstad’s and Sonja Henie’s interest in contemporary art became all encompassing. From the moment they decided to make their collection public, their deepest hope was to be able to bring it home to Norway and to establish a museum for modern art. In 1961 they established separate foundations, through which they channelled their paintings, building fund and a maintenance fund. The Henie Onstad Art Centre was opened in 1968, just outside Oslo.