Moderna Museet

History

The museum opened in Stockholm on 9May 1958,

Collection

The museum houses Swedish and international modern and contemporary art, including pieces by Pablo Picasso and Salvador Dalí, and a model of Tatlin's Tower. The museum's collection also includes key works by artists such as Marcel Duchamp, Louise Bourgeois, Niki de Saint Phalle, Henri Matisse and Robert Rauschenberg, as well as ongoing acquisitions by contemporary artists.

On 8November 1993, six works by Picasso and two by Georges Braque, totaling more than £40 million, were stolen from the museum in a coup in which the burglars came in through the roof by night, copying a method from the 1955 French film Rififi. All six of the Picasso paintings and one of the Braque paintings have been recovered.

Pontus Hultén Collection

In 2005, former museum director Pontus Hultén bequeathed over 700 works of art to Moderna Museet, along with his archive and library. A few works of the collection are on display with the museum's permanent collection; many others are exhibited in the purpose-built Pontus Hultén Study Gallery.

Sculpture park

The museum has a sculpture park on the island with works by sculptors of diverse nationalities.

• The Four Elements, Alexander Calder, 1961
• Le Paradis fantastique, Jean Tinguely and Niki de Saint Phalle, 1966
• Déjeuner sur l'herbe, Pablo Picasso and Carl Nesjar, 1962
• Monumentalfigur, Christian Berg, 1927
• Monument över den sista cigaretten, Erik Dietman, 1975
• Lenin Monument April 13th 1917, Björn Lövin, 1977
• Mannen på templet, Bjørn Nørgaard, 1980
• Svart svensk granit, Ulrich Rückriem, 1981
• Pavilion Sculpture II, Dan Graham, 1984
• Louisa, Thomas M. Woodruff, 1987
• Freedom and Belief (their own affair), Joseph Kosuth, 1998
• No title, Per Kirkeby, 1999–2000
• Instabil, Lars Englund, 2005
• Närkontakt, Gustav Kraitz, 2008

Architecture

The museum was initially housed in Exercishuset on Skeppsholmen.

From 1994 to 1998, it was temporarily moved to another location, the Spårvägshallarna, in Stockholm while the new building on Skeppsholmen, designed by the Spanish architect Rafael Moneo, was built. The Pontus Hultén Study Gallery was designed by Renzo Piano.

The museum shares its premises with the Swedish Centre for Architecture and Design.

Activity

The museum organizes and is a venue for temporary contemporary art exhibitions throughout the year. In 2005, the museum hosted the onedotzero festival with the intention of attracting a new, younger audience to the museum with screenings, installations, talks and live VJ audio-visual events.

Directors

• 1958–1973: Pontus Hultén
• 1973–1977: Philip von Schantz
• 1977–1979: Karin Lindegren
• 1980–1989: Olle Granath
• 1989–1995: Björn Springfeldt
• 1996–2001: David Elliott
• 2001–2010: Lars Nittve
• 2010–2018: Daniel Birnbaum
• 2018–2019: Ann-Sofi Noring (acting)
• Since 2019: Gitte Ørskou

References

References

1. "Moderna Museet". [[Malmö Municipality]].
2. "Om samlingen". Moderna Museet.
3. (12 November 2013). "Största konstkuppen inte helt löst". Södertörns Högskola.
4. (29 June 2016). "Spektakulära konststölder genom tiderna". [[Barnebys Group AB]].
5. (10 November 2005). "Pontus Hultén donerar 700 verk till Moderna Museet". [[Dagens Nyheter]].
6. "Utomhusskulpturer på Skeppsholmen, Stockholm". Moderna Museet.
7. "Exercishuset på Skeppsholmen". [[National Property Board of Sweden]].
8. (27 December 1997). "Flyttfest". [[Dagens Nyheter]].
9. (1998). "Modern Museum and Swedish Museum of Architecture in Stockholm". Arkitektur.
10. (13 January 2005). "Visuellt och utmanande på Moderna". [[Dagens Nyheter]].
11. (12 June 2012). "In Stockholm, Stretching a Museum's Boundaries".
12. (13 June 2019). "Gitte Ørskou will be the new Director of Moderna Museet".
13. (12 April 2023). "To Tackle the Climate Crisis, Museums of the Future Must Get Creative".