The Museum of Modern Art in Stockholm is one of the attractions of the Swedish capital. This cultural institution has been operating since the mid-20th century. Today it annually attracts a huge number of tourists with its outstanding collection. In this article, we will talk about the most interesting exhibits, give feedback from visitors.
History of creation
The Museum of Modern Art in Stockholm first opened its doors to visitors in 1958. Otto Skeld became its first director.
In the 1990s, the building was radically rebuilt according to the project of the famous Spanish architect Rafael Moneo. One of the galleries for the museum was planned by Italian architect Renzo Piano, who is considered one of the founders of high-tech style.
The museum is located in the Swedish capital on the island of Sheppsholmen in the Gulf of Saltschen. This is the very center of Stockholm. The Museum of East Asia and the Museum of Architecture are located next door. Every year the island hosts a jazz festival.
Another attraction of the island, which attracts a large number of tourists, are dozens of wooden old ships moored off the east coast. Some of them can be visited and examined.
The museum itself has the status of a state institution, works directly under the patronage of the Ministry of Culture. Officially, his mission is to exhibit, preserve and disseminate the art of the XX-XXI centuries in all its forms and manifestations. Government funding allows the collection to have unique works by famous masters.
Guide
Currently, the director of the Museum of Modern Art in Stockholm is Swedish art critic and art critic Daniel Birnbaum. He has been leading the cultural institution since 2010. In parallel, he runs the Higher Art School "Shtedel" as rector.
He is a popular art critic in Sweden. He gained popularity by becoming one of the curators of the First and Second Biennale of Contemporary Art in Moscow. He directed the 53rd Venice Biennale.
Many of his creative projects are implemented in our country. For example, together with the Russian poet Evgeny Bunimovich, he acted as a curator of the Moscow Poetry Club.
Collection
Moderna museet is famous for its unique collection of contemporary art. About 100 thousand works are presented here. Most of them belong to world-famous masters.
In the collection of the Museum of Modern Art in Stockholm, visitors can enjoy the creations of Henri Matisse, Alberto Giacometti, Casimir Malevich. Here are the works of Salvador Dali, Marcel Duchamp, Andy Warhol.
For our compatriots, an exhibition of Russian constructivists will be of particular interest. For example, the Monument of the Third International, which is also called the Tower of Tatlin. This is a project of a monument dedicated to the Third International, developed by Soviet avant-garde architect Vladimir Tatlin.
The construction of this tower was supposed to be carried out in Petrograd after the October Revolution. It was a grandiose iron monument, which was supposed to appear in 7-storey rotating buildings. Its construction was never realized, since the Soviet authorities cooled to avant-garde itself in the late 1920s.
In 1993, the Museum of Modern Art in Stockholm was at the center of the scandal when two works by the French graphic artist Georges Braque and six paintings by Pablo Picasso were stolen from it. The total value of the stolen was estimated at 40 million pounds. Only three paintings by Picasso were found and returned to the exhibition.
It is important that since 2016, his visit, like the rest of the state museums in Sweden, has become free.
"Letatlin"
In the museum you really will find something that everyone should see in Stockholm. Another exhibit that will be interesting to connoisseurs of domestic art is an individual non-motorized aircraft. This is a conceptual work of the same Vladimir Tatlin, known as Letatlin.
For the first time it was put into practice by him along with several assistants in the late 1920s and early 1930s. Three almost identical instances of Letatlin were made. Only one original has survived to this day, and then with a few lost details. Now he is in the collection of the Tretyakov Gallery.
In Stockholm, an attempt was made in the early 1990s to reconstruct the apparatus. The main goal of contemporary artists was to convey its appearance. It is this model that is currently exhibited in Stockholm.
Lenin monument
In fact, this monument looks like a piece of pavers with tram rails running along it.
The history of this work of modern art has its roots in 1917, when Vladimir Lenin visited Stockholm. It was in the Swedish capital that he purchased a three-piece suit, in which he later appeared at a historical moment on an armored car in front of the inhabitants of Petrograd.
In the photograph taken on April 13, 1917, it is presented next to the exhibit, the moment is captured when Vladimir Ilyich steps over the tram rails. The picture has become very popular, has been published in many publications. Contemporaries recall that Lenin at that moment participated in the demonstration. He stumbled and nearly fell.
In the 1970s, the Swedish sculptor Björn Levin, having carefully studied the photograph, cut out a piece of the pavement with a tram rail along which Ilyich walked. She was installed near the building of the Museum of Modern Art as an art object.
Reviews
Visitors who have visited this museum claim that all fans of contemporary art should get into it. There are so many famous names and exhibition halls that you are sure to find something that will interest you.
Experts even claim that Stockholm has one of the best collections in Europe.
Tourists are advised to visit the store located in the museum. It sells a lot of varied and pleasant souvenirs, as well as books on contemporary art. Also on its territory there is a restaurant with an attractive view of the old city.
The only thing you need to go here is prepared. To someone who has not read anything about contemporary art before, much may seem completely incomprehensible.