A half hour north of Copenhagen by train, you get off at a stop called Humlebæk then follow the signs as you walk about ten minutes up the road to a place called Lousiana. Louisiana is a modern art museum, and it is our family’s unanimous choice for best museum in the world. It has gorgeous but unpretentious gardens filled with sculptures by Henry Moore and Alexander Calder standing atop green hills overlooking the sea. You could sit for hours enjoying one of the most astoundingly pleasant settings on the planet. It occurs to you only as an afterthought that you should actually go inside and check out the collection. What could rival the setting?But the collection is astounding — with works by Giacometti and Picasso alongside a temporary exhibition by Yoko Ono (which turned out to surprisingly playful and interesting). The real jewel in the crown was an installation by the American artist Tara Donovan which opened all our eyes to the use of unexpected materials in art (above left). Interestingly, Louisiana got its name because the Danish man who originally owned the villa had three wives and they were all named Louise. In 1958, the museum was created on the site only after the architects spent months walking the grounds trying to figure out the best way to situate the buildings. The result is a perfect modernist construction of wood and glass housing the best curated collection we’ve ever experienced.After much trial and error, we have learned that we prefer smaller museums where you can feel you’ve seen the whole thing in a couple hours, as opposed to feeling overwhelmed. For this reason, we prefer the simple Picasso Museum in Antibes to the Louvre in Paris where no matter how much time you spend you end up with the empty defeated feeling of how much you didn’t get to see. By this standard, and just about every other, Denmark’s Lousiana is absolutely perfect.
I’ve been there, and I completely agree. Incredible.
The Picasso museum in Antibes has always been my fave– I look forward to checking out Louisiana someday…thanks!
Beautiful. Thank you.
That museum, Louisiana, has my name on it, don’t you think?
great!
Taiwan has always been my favorite but I will take your advice.
thanks for confirming what I’ve long suspected. I have the book on the Louisiana’s permanent collection, and that alone has placed it at the top of my list of museums to visit. and you went at the perfect time! I’m so jealous.
by the way, the Picasso museum in Paris is also amazing – when the staff isn’t on strike.
“There is nothing more beautiful than time.”
….so true. A Year to Think….and to enjoy “time”.
Thank you for taking us along.
xox, #1FANNY
Lovely!
Thank you for this mention of this most perfect place in Danmark. your journey is beautiful