Norrköpings Konstmuseum
About the Museum
The Art Museum’s history began in 1901 when the industrialist Pehr Swartz donated the extensive art collection of diocese librarian E. H. Segerstéen to the Norrköping Art Society. The collection consisted of more than 500 artworks and was donated to the city when Norrköping opened the first museum and library in Villa Swartz in 1913. The art collection expanded with more donations and city architect Kurt von Schmalensee was commissioned to design a new building at Kristinaplatsen where Norrköpings Konstmuseum moved in 1946. Today Norrköpings Konstmuseum has one of the country’s finest collections of Swedish modernism and contemporary art as well as a comprehensive international collection of prints.
The Sculpture Park situated next to the Art Museum is a hidden gem, built with donations from Sture Gilgård and opened in 1960. The sculptures are part of the collection and contains artworks by amongst others Arne Jones, Olle Baertling, Elli Hemberg and Jacob Dahlgren in the park.
Norrköpings Konstmuseum is responsible for the public art of the municipality and directs the art collection. The museum contributes to the city development and continuously work to promote artistic expressions as natural part of the city environment.
The Collection
The collection is the core of Norrköpings Konstmuseum, the heart from where the activities spread. Parts of the collection is permanently exhibited and supplemented with immersed presentations of themes and artistry, through temporary exhibitions.
Norrköpings Konstmuseum is renowned for its Swedish avantgarde and Swedish contemporary art collections. Artist such as Gösta Adrian-Nilsson, Otto G. Carlsund, Isaac Grünewald, Greta Knutson and Vera Nilsson are represented with their central artworks. Norrköping Konstmuseum has always incorporated the current and the contemporary and therefor expanded the collection from an equality perspective. Contemporary and iconic works to be mentioned are Cecilia Edefalk’s Another Movement and Ann Edholm’s Acefalen.
The museum also has a considerable international collection of prints dating from the 1400s until today, with major art works by artists such as Albrecht Dürer, Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn, Francisco de Goya and William Hogarth. The Swedish 1900s collection of prints is also well represented.
Exhibitions 2020/2021
28th of March – 17th of January 2021
Cecilia Edefalk – the Homecoming
The Homecoming is a major retrospective with Cecilia Edefalk (b. 1954, Norrköping). It features several of her iconic works along with more recent projects. The intention is to offer an enjoyable presentation of Edefalk’s oeuvre. Sensuality, communion with nature, and relationships to places are the themes explored in the exhibition. Cecilia Edefalk will also redesign the area in front of the museum into a pasture. An audio guide will be available, where Cecilia Edefalk talks to artists represented in the museum’s permanent exhibition in Galleries 1 and 2.
Gallery 3, 4, 5
Photo: Cecilia Edefalk, Another movement, 1990, Photo Per Myrehed.
25th of September 2020 – 11th of April 2021
To find new approaches to the collection, we have invited Bianca Maria Barmen (b. 1960) to present her sculptures in dialogue with it. Famous for her public work of art near Hedvig Church, she will now have access to the collection to install plaster and bronze sculptures. In her sculptures, Barmen creates new worlds with people, animals and objects. They are miniature tableaus, where the context generates new meanings and cause us to reflect. How could an artist look at the collection, and what happens in this encounter? Will the familiar works appear in a new light, and how do they interact with Barmen’s own sculptures?
The exhibition is produced by Norrköpings Konstmuseum and designed in dialogue with the permanent collection.
The exhibition is produced by Norrköpings Konstmuseum.
Gallery 1 & 2
Bianca Maria Barmen, Escape, Photo: Gerry Johansson.
13th of February 2021 –
Aron Borelius, the first director of Norrköpings Konstmuseum, laid the foundations for the collection we have today. Writing a collection presents his contribution to forming the collection. Several of the museum’s best-loved pieces, including Grünewald’s The Singing Tree, came to the museum during his time. They have become part of Sweden’s art history and artistic canon. But how did this happen? And what about the forgotten artists?
By showing how Borelius combined his museum work with art criticism, we seek to shed light on this story. Art criticism served as a platform for promoting artists – newspaper readers read positive reviews and patrons were encouraged to buy works. Starting with a discussion of the concept of canon (the notion that certain works of art are the most important), we explore how Borelius tried to influence Sweden’s art history.
The exhibition is produced by Norrköpings Konstmuseum and is based on a research collaboration with Göteborgs konstmuseum and Gothenburg University.
The exhibition is produced by Norrköpings Konstmuseum .
Gallery 3 & 4
Greta Knutson-Tzara, Abstract Composition (the image is cropped), 1976, Photo Mats Arvidsson/NKM.
Hours
Closed
Mondays
Public holidays: 1/1 New Years Day, Good Friday, Easter Monday, 1/5 Labour Day, Midsummer Eve, Midsummer Day, 24/12 Christmas Eve, 25/12 Christmas Day, 26/12 Boxing Day, 31/12 New Years Eve.
Guided tours
The guided tours has been cancelled due to covid 19/the corona virus. We refer to our Audioguide.
Call the museum reception for details.
Contacts
Phone +46 (0)11 – 15 26 00
konstmuseet@norrkoping.se
www.norrkopingskonstmuseum.se
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