Louisiana Museum of Modern Art

This article is about the museum in Humlebæk, Denmark. For the museum in Louisiana, USA, see Louisiana State Museum.
Louisiana Museum of Modern Art
Established 1958
Location Humlebæk, Denmark
Type Art museum
Visitors 724,580 (2015)[1]
Director Poul Erik Tøjner
Public transit access Humlebæk/Louisiana station
Website www.louisiana.dk

The Louisiana Museum of Modern Art is an art museum located directly on the shore of the Øresund Sound in Humlebæk, 35 km (22 mi) north of Copenhagen, Denmark. It is the most visited art museum in Denmark[2] with an extensive permanent collection of modern and contemporary art, dating from World War II and up until now, as well as a comprehensive programme of special exhibitions. The museum is also acknowledged as a milestone in modern Danish architecture, noted for the synthesis it creates of art, architecture, and landscape. The museum has at occasions also exhibitions with works of the great impressionists and expressionists, like the large Claude Monet impressionist exhibition in 1994.

The museum is included in the Patricia Schultz book 1,000 Places to See Before You Die and #85 on a list of most visited art museums in the world (2011).

History

The name of the museum derives from the first owner of the property, Alexander Brun, who named the villa after his three wives, all named Louise.[3] The museum was created in 1958 by Knud W. Jensen, the owner at the time. He contacted architects Vilhelm Wohlert and Jørgen Bo who spent a few months walking around the property before deciding how a new construction would best fit into the landscape. This study resulted in the first version of the museum consisting of three buildings connected by glass corridors. Since then it has been extended several times until it reached its present circular shape in 1991.[4]

In late November 2012 Louisiana Museum of Modern Art launched Louisiana Channel, a web-TV channel contributing to the continual development of the museum as a cultural platform.

In 2013 the music department of the museum launch Louisiana Music, a webpage dedicated to musical videos produced by the museum with world famous musicians.

View over the sea from the museum lawn.

Collections

Modern art

It has a wide range of modern art paintings, sculptures and videos dating from World War II up to now, including works by artists such as Roy Lichtenstein, Andy Warhol, Anselm Kiefer, Alberto Giacometti, Pablo Picasso, Yves Klein, Robert Rauschenberg, David Hockney and Asger Jorn. The videos are often housed in room settings where the viewer is made to feel part of the scene being portrayed. Perched above the sea, there is a sculpture garden between the museum's two wings with works by artists including Henry Moore, Alexander Calder, and Jean Arp.

Wessel-Bagge collection

Besides the collection of modern art, Louisiana also displays a collection of Pre-Columbian art. Consisting of more than 400 objects, the collection was a donation from the Wessel-Bagge Foundation in 2001. It is the personal collection left by Niels-Wessel Bagge, who was a Danish dancer, choreographer and art collector living in California and who died in 1990.

The concert hall

Concert hall

The Concert Hall was built in 1976 in connection with the West Wing which had been built in 1966 and 1971. Its acoustics make it especially fit for chamber music but it is also used for other musical genres as well as a wide array of others events and activities such as debates, lectures and symposiums. The chairs are designed by Poul Kjærholm and the rear wall is decorated with paintings created for the site by Sam Francis.[5]

In 2007 began a project to produce concerts filming and musical clips directed by Stéphan Aubé. All the movies are available for free on the Louisiana Music website.

Sculpture garden, Louisiana Art Museum.

Sculpture garden

The grounds around the museum contain a landscaped sculpture garden. It is made up by a plateau and the sloping terrain towards Øresund and is dominated by huge, ancient specimen trees and sweeping vistas of the sea.

It contains works by such artists as Jean Arp, Max Ernst, Max Bill, Alexander Calder, Henri Laurens, Louise Bourgeois, Joan Miró and Henry Moore. The sculptures are either placed so that they can be viewed from within, in special sculpture yards or independently around the gardens, forming a synthesis with the lawns, the trees and the sea.[2] There are also examples of site-specific art by such artists as Enzo Cucchi, Dani Karavan and George Trakas.[6]

Louisiana Literature

Louisiana Literature festival is an annual festival taking place at the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art. The festival was started in 2010 and features about forty writers each year. The writers come from all over the world. They perform on stages around the museum and in the sculpture park and attract more than 10.000 people each year.

Directors

1958 —: Knud W. Jensen
1995 —: Lars Nittve
1998 —: Steingrim Laursen
2000 —: Poul Erik Tøjner

Location

The museum is located by the Øresund coast in the North Zeeland region, some 30 km (19 mi) north of central Copenhagen and 10 km (6 mi) south of Elsinore. From the regional train station in Humlebæk is it a 10–15 minutes walk.

References

  1. ↑ "Kunstmuseet Louisiana i vanvittig publikumsrekord" (in Danish). sn.dk. 5 January 2016. Retrieved 12 January 2016.
  2. 1 2 "Louisiana". AOK. Retrieved 2009-06-03.
  3. ↑ museum information service(Publikumsservice)Omstilling@louisiana.dk
  4. ↑ "Louisiana", Journal (in Danish), Post Danmark Frimærker (3/08), pp. 2–5, May 2008
  5. ↑ "Arkitekturen" (in Danish). AOK. Retrieved 2011-10-18.
  6. ↑ "Louisiana". Louisiana. Retrieved 2009-06-03.
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Coordinates: 55°58′10″N 12°32′35″E / 55.96944°N 12.54306°E / 55.96944; 12.54306

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