Louisiana Museum of Modern Art

The name of Louisiana is based on a series of love relationships – the property was once the country home of nobleman Alexander Brun, who had been married three times, each time to a woman called Louise.

This is why it was named Louisiana, which the founder of the art museum, Knut W. Jensen, overtook when he purchased the building. 

Two words are recurring in the many texts on the experience of a visit to Louisiana: “coherence” and “kindness”.

The Louisiana Collection currently comprises 4,000 artworks and focuses not on a complete chronology of art history but rather on certain groups of work and specific artistic periods.

Many associate it particularly with its collection of Giacometti-sculptures, but it also includes important works by Louise Bourgeois, Yves Klein, Andy Warhol and David Hockney, among many others.

Louisiana is not only known for its art but also for the building in which the art is displayed.

The architects, Jørgen Bo and Wilhelm Wohlert, were asked by Jensen to design the museum building around the old villa, carefully linking the new additions to the already existing spaces as well as with the natural surroundings, withut disturbing what was already in place.

Louisiana opened in 1958, and since then, the building has extended into the surrounding park at seven different times, each time overseen by architect Claus Wolhert.

The first part of the building is known as the North Wing and includes the famous Giacometti-room with a view of the lake.

Even today, there is still a particular resonance in the space for the visitors – a sense of calmness and peace.

Inspiration for the museum was found in a combination of cultures, including American, Japanese and European design traditions.

As Wohlert had studied at the University of California at Berkeley, he had become acquainted with the particular style of Bay Area architecture, characterised by the wooden houses in San Francisco Bay.

At Louisiana, there are also distinct references to the traditional simplicity of Japanese building style, viewed through the mid-century modern-style that was emerging in Denmark at the time.

Located in Humlebæck, just a few train-stops north of Copenhagen, the space is so vast, and the exhibitions are often so ambitious, that one can easily spend a whole day here, without even seeing everything on display.

In the summer, it is also possible to go for a swim in the sea just below the museum.

On the other side of the Sound, you can catch a glimpse of the most southern part of Sweden, as well as the island Ven, once home to astronomer Tycho Brahe.

For many who visit the museum, what draws them to the space is in equal parts the art and its particular atmosphere, where the blurring of outside and inside through glass walls and sense of lightness is an important component.

The walls are long and whitewashed, the structures are exposed, the ceilings are laminated wood, while the floors are made from deep-red tiles, which has inspired several buildings, designed in the spirit and style of this place.

The park includes 45 sculptures, all part of the museum’s art collection. These sculptures is also one of the reasons that the museum is interesting to visit regardless of time of year, as being in the park and viewing its sculptures will appear as completely different experiences at different points in time.

The sculptures are placed in a way that allows for them to interact both with the architecture of the site, as well as with the surrounding nature.

Similarly, there are site-specific artworks, including Richard Serra’s “The Gate in the Gorge” and George Trakas’ “Self Passage”, today concrete parts of the terrain.

Louisiana Museum of Modern Art

Humlebæk, Danmark