A suburb of Copenhagen, Denmark. Museum like an ordinary house in a quiet residential area. After marvel at the radical works, the seascape appears in front.
Museum of Modern Art on the outskirts of Copenhagen, Denmark. Among museum enthusiasts, this museum is known as the “world’s most beautiful museum”. Personally, I thought the museum was in the United States because of the name “Louisiana”, but the museum is in Denmark, in Europe.
The museum is in a suburb 35 km north of Copenhagen. Take the train from Copenhagen Central Station to Humlebek station and walk for about 15 minutes. I visited on a weekday Friday in January in the middle of winter, but I did not get lost because about 20 people got off the train and started walking in the same direction.
The first thing that surprises when arrived is that the building looks like an ordinary house. The museum is a renovated mansion built in 1856.
After purchasing a ticket, go inside. A museum shop suddenly appears. It is 1st and basement floor. The space is the same level of size as the shops at Tate Modern in London.
Head to the exhibition room in the South Wing. Walk down the corridor-like passageway and enter the building area. There are three paintings by a Japanese artist (Tetsuya Ishida). There is also an installation work by a Japanese artist (Yuji Agematsu) on the second floor.
This south wing is a two-story building, but the rooms are so intricate that meets the criteria for a good museum. There is a place on the second floor where visitor can take a break. The scenery is wonderful. When I sit on the sofa, I can see the ocean in the background.
Yayoi Kusama’s work (Gleaming lights of Souls) is on display on the first floor of this South Wing. The format is for each person to enter a room and watch the show. This is Permanent exhibition.
When I exit the South Wing, I see a corridor-shaped building and go down the stairs. There was a special exhibition that gave an insight into the museum’s attitude and way of thinking. This is an exhibition by Russian punk band and activist “Pussy Riot”. The basement corridor-like exhibition room is filled with people, with exhibits centered on video works. This was the first Pussy Riot exhibit in the world, and I had to push through the people in the exhibition room to move forward. This corridor-shaped building is the East Wing.
Further inside, there are museum-like exhibits, and when I go up to the ground floor, there is a cafe. Large space. It does not look like a museum cafe.
Many people were on the tables with great views. It looks like a local people. I sat at a table in an area with fewer people. Table number was 138. There was a man sitting at the back side of the tables and his table number was probably 140. Apparently it was the end table. It looks like there are numbers on the table for two people and the largest number is 140. In other words, the number of tables in this cafe is 140. This means that about 280 people can seat.
The system is that pick up a menu prepared at the entrance, sit down at an available seat by yourself, and a staff member comes over to take your order. Black Coffee is served in a fancy ceramic bowl that looks like a teacup. The shrimp salad was heavy with Danish mayonnaise. The museum opens until 8pm on weekdays, and this cafe had an item called “Dinner” on its menu. I guess local people purrchases annual pass and go to this cafe to eat.
After left the cafe, a hallway continues. It is North Wing. There are sculptures and Giacometti’s room on the side. It is wonderful space. There is a pond outside. Afterwards, I enter the West Wing, walk through a space lined with paintings, and return to the shops which is the entrance area.
Finally, I have completed a tour of the museum. The structure of this building is amazing, but this is not the only thing that makes this museum amazing. There is an outdoor exhibition. When I step out from the side of the shop into the courtyard, I find sculpture-type works dotted around.
When I arrive at the side of the building where the cafe locates, I can see the ocean in front. The Sweden continent is vaguely in the distance. There are sculptures at the outside of the cafe, and I can see why this museum is “the most beautiful museum in the world”.
Lastly, I would like to summarize the greatness and splendor of this museum.
- Although the building is old, the works on display are modern works, and works such as Pussy Riot are radical, so there is no resistance to such exhibitions.
- The exhibition area seems to have a simple structure, but it is actually quite complex. I almost got lost how to get to the next room in the basement of the cafe.
- There are uniformed staff members here and there, but they are inconspicuous and do not become a hindrance.
- The garden with outdoor exhibits is beautiful and the view overlooking the ocean is wonderful.
Perhaps this museum has an impact because of the gap between its location and its exhibits. There were four planned exhibitions. Although I only emphasized Pussy Riot, the contemporary works exhibited in the South Wing also stood out as being avant-garde. Furthermore, there were almost no exhibitions of paintings from the 1900s. Famous artist of work include one Picasso painting in the West Wing, Yves Klein in the sculpture area, and many Giacometti paintings.
This “the most beautiful museum in the world” is an art museum that lives up to its name, and I can feel that it is pushing forward with modern art rather than sticking to old things, and there is a gap between the location/building and the works. It was an impressive museum. Please visit.
Visited in 2024.
Basic Information
■ Name : Louisiana Museum of Modern Art
■ Address : Gl Strandvej 13, 3050 Humlebæk, Denmark
■ Homepage : https://louisiana.dk/
