Paul Preben Gadegaard was a visual artist and sculptor born in 1920 in Frederiksberg. He studied painting at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts from 1940–1946 under Sigurd Wandel, Kræsten Iversen, Aksel Jørgensen and Vilhelm Lundstrøm. Forced to leave Denmark during the Second World War, he also studied at the Royal Swedish Academy of Arts under Otte Sköld from 1944–1945. From there he completed his studies in Paris at Académie André Lhote.

     Gadegaard's early paintings were naturalistic, but from the end of the 1940s they became Abstract and geometric, influenced by the constructivist trend he encountered in Paris. In 1949 he joined the Linien II artists association where he exhibited until 1952. After the 1960s, his paintings became lighter in color, initiating a style which became increasingly common in Denmark over the following years.

     In 1952 at the Furniture Fair in Forum in Copenhagen, Gadegaard was completing a large painting entitled "Maleri paa Lærred Konflikt ii 1952, Tilegnet Vilhelm Lundstrøm" (Painting on Canvas, Conflict ii, 1952 – Dedicated to Vilhelm Lundstrøm), which is now in the collection of the Heart Museum of Contemporary Art in Herning. During that five-day period Gadegaard allowed the public to watch him at work, which was something of a sensation at a time when abstract art was still largely unknown in Denmark. Textile industrialist Aage Damgaard from the Angli Shirt Factory was in attendance and was impressed by the young artist. This chance encounter would change the artist's life and the trajectory of his work.

     That year Damgaard hired Gadegaard to decorate the factory's canteen. From 1957–1961, the artist was again hired to comprehensively paint the inside of the entire 27,000 sq ft factory, and oversee the furniture and accessories. This lead to many other commission to paint public and private spaces in his signature geometric abstract style and made him a pioneer in the area of Industrial Art. Another major commission was in 1977 where Gadegaard painted the decoration of Herning's Angler Farm which he completed in 1982.

     In 1970, Gadegaard was awarded the Eckersberg Medal and in 1982 he received the Thorvaldsen Medal.      The artist is represented in these public institutions:

• Statens Museum for Kunst (National Gallery)

• BRANDTS - (Painting) Museum of Art & Visual Culture

• Esbjerg Art Museum

• HEART Herning Museum of Contemporary Art

• The Kastrupgård collection

• ARTS Museum of Modern Art Aalborg

• KØS Museum of Art in the Public Space

• Sorø Art Museum