Located in the centre of the Swedish capital, the Moderna Museet was opened in 1958, when modern art from the early 20th century and the photography from 1840 onwards were transferred from the National Museum to an old navy training facility on the island of Skeppsholmen. Although the museum’s location is still the same, the current building was completed in 1998. In 2009, the Moderna Museet also opened a ‘branch’ in Malmö.
The Moderna Museet is one of the most important museums of modern and contemporary art in Europe. Its philosophy is to have an open, experimental spirit, taking risks in the name of art and fuelling interaction between art, artists and the public, thus building a museum of the present but for the future. It allows a place for all artistic disciplines to meet, always offering new impulses; and its intention is for art to be an experience that transcends all ages, to be a source of knowledge of the world and of ourselves.
The Moderna Museet allows a place for all artistic disciplines to meet.
The Moderna Museet’s art collection comprises more than 130,000 works. Originally dominated by three categories - Swedish and Nordic art, French-oriented modernism and American art from the 1950s and 1960s – the collection was added to with the inclusion of innovative artists from the 20th and 21st centuries. With around 100,000 items, it boasts an unparalleled photo collection. As only a fraction of the collection can be on display, exhibitions are constantly changed, allowing it to explore and reshape new narratives.Names such as Pablo Picasso, Ljubov Popova, Salvador Dalí, Meret Oppenheim, Robert Rauschenberg, Donald Judd and Irving Penn are represented, as well as more contemporary artists with innovative art forms. At the moment, until May 05, the Malmö branch features the exhibition Alias: CFR, by multifaceted artist Carl Fredrik Reuterswärd. The exhibition will then head to Stockholm. Also in Malmö, Blue Is the Colour of Your Eyes, by Louise Bourgeois and other internationally renowned artists, will be on show until January 2020. But many more artistic narratives can be ‘lived’ in the Moderna Museet. In the name of art, of mankind and of the world!
