Sculptures by the sea
Add this masterpiece-filled estate with a romantic history to your next Copenhagen itinerary
By Kim Gray
Jean Dubuffet, Manoir d’Essor, 1969-1982, Louisiana Museum of Modern Art. Photo by @photographybyktb
Twenty-five years ago, I saw a captivating photo of a modern glass passage through a wooded sculpture garden and was immediately stuck by its name: The Louisiana Museum. As an American with family from Louisiana, I decided I had to visit this gorgeous place – only to learn it was in fact in Humlebæk, Denmark!
Still, I filed the image away in my mind and a quarter century later, on finding myself in Copenhagen with a few days free to explore, I headed north from the capital – 40 minutes by train – in search of this place so indelibly stamped in my memory.
Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, photos by @photographybyktb
Surprisingly, the name Louisiana has nothing to do with the American state or a wealthy Southern benefactor. The museum’s founder was an affluent, Danish cheese merchant and avid art collector with a passion for forestry. It’s a combo you don’t find every day, but here the trifecta definitely came together and created something special.
The merchant bought the country house and estate of a 19th century aristocrat who had married three different Louisas and who, in a move of hopeless romanticism, named the estate Louisiana after his third wife.
Louisiana Museum of Modern Art. Photos by @photographybyktb
If there is an over-arching theme of the Louisiana, it is one of hope and new perspectives. The landscape, the architecture, the permanent collection and the exhibitions together offer a playground for the eyes and soul.
Louisiana is not about erudite or snobbish art – one needs no particular background or understanding to be delighted and enraptured by the works and their placement in the built and natural environment.
Sculpture by Jean Arp. Louisiana Museum of Modern Art. Photo by @photographybyktb
Sun glistens off Henry Moore’s Two Piece Reclining Figure No. 5 set on a hill much like an infinity pool with the sea crashing beyond. It manages to be playful and poetic yet monumental and iconic at the same time. The viewer cannot help but see the world in front of, beyond and through Moore’s sculpture. It frames and decorates the landscape as much as the landscape frames and decorates the sculpture.
One of my favourite paintings was Dead Drunk Danes by Asger Jorn. The riotous colours and dynamic brushstrokes made me smile in the afternoon sunshine of the gallery even before I discovered the name of the painting. I immediately Whatsapped a photo to a friend and bet he could never guess the name, but it was impossible to miss the cheery mischievousness. For me, that’s what’s so wonderful about art: it can be personal, inspiring and meaningful to anyone and everyone without “knowing what it means”. Then, with knowledge and perspective, art morphs into something more complex, interesting and meaningful.
Asger Jorn, Dead Drunk Danes, 1960. Louisiana Museum of Modern Art. Photo by @photographybyktb
It's hard to choose only a few works to mention, as the collection is incredible, reading like a Who’s Who of the second half of the 20th century: Miro, Arp, Giacometti, Klee, Richard Serra, Kusama, Picasso, Yves Klein, Andy Warhol and Roy Lichenstein, amongst so many others. The galleries are light-filled, playful spaces of modern design that tempt you into the natural landscapes while also framing and highlighting the artworks.
As a visitor, I couldn’t help but explore the galleries by wandering outside and back in again, and again. If I could see my path, it would be a spiral, a bit like that of a Dead Drunk Danes. My route was a treasure trail of my own discoveries, and I am sure my perspectives and frames were completely unique to me because Louisiana tempts every visitor to find and follow her own playful road of art, nature, joy, beauty and inspiration.
Sculpture by Henry Heerup, Louisiana Museum of Modern Art. Photo by @photographybyktb
The Louisiana Museum pulls at your heart and soul and fills it with joie de vivre, much like a single photo viewed 25 years ago can make one seek out a seaside museum in Denmark, or a third marriage to a woman named Louisa can make a man believe in love again, and inspire another to create a world-class art collection nestled in the woods beside a crashing sea.
Our guest author Kim Gray came to the UK from Texas, studied History of Art, worked at Christie’s and is currently London’s friendliest wedding photographer @photographybyktb. Find more on her website www.photographybyktb.com