Moderna Museet () is a state museum for modern and contemporary art and design, located on the island of Skeppsholmen in central Stockholm, opened in 1958.
History After the original opening, in 2009, the museum also opened Moderna Museet Malmö in Malmö, in a building that had housed the Rooseum centre for contemporary art. The Moderna Museet in Stockholm has been the subject of scholarship on museum history, preservation, and institutional planning.
Collection The museum houses Swedish and international modern and contemporary art, including pieces by Pablo Picasso and Salvador Dalí, and a model of Tatlin's Tower. The museum's collection also includes key works by artists such as Marcel Duchamp, Louise Bourgeois, Niki de Saint Phalle, Henri Matisse and Robert Rauschenberg, as well as ongoing acquisitions by contemporary artists.
On 8November 1993, six works by Picasso and two by Georges Braque, totaling more than £40 million, were stolen from the museum in a coup in which the burglars came in through the roof by night, copying a method from the 1955 French film Rififi. All six of the Picasso paintings and one of the Braque paintings have been recovered. Pontus Hultén Collection In 2005, former museum director Pontus Hultén bequeathed over 700 works of art to Moderna Museet, along with his archive and library. A few works of the collection are on display with the museum's permanent collection; many others are exhibited in the purpose-built Pontus Hultén Study Gallery.
Sculpture park The museum has a sculpture park on the island with works by sculptors of diverse nationalities. The Four Elements, Alexander Calder, 1961 Le Paradis fantastique, Jean Tinguely and Niki de Saint Phalle, 1966 Déjeuner sur l'herbe, Pablo Picasso and Carl Nesjar, 1962 Monumentalfigur, Christian Berg, 1927 Monument över den sista cigaretten, Erik Dietman, 1975 Lenin Monument April 13th 1917, Björn Lövin, 1977 Mannen på templet, Bjørn Nørgaard, 1980 Svart svensk granit, Ulrich Rückriem, 1981 Pavilion Sculpture II, Dan Graham, 1984 Louisa, Thomas M. Woodruff, 1987 Freedom and Belief (their own affair), Joseph Kosuth, 1998 No title, Per Kirkeby, 1999–2000 Instabil, Lars Englund, 2005 Närkontakt, Gustav Kraitz, 2008
Architecture The museum was initially housed in Exercishuset on Skeppsholmen.
From 1994 to 1998, it was temporarily moved to another location, the Spårvägshallarna, in Stockholm while the new building on Skeppsholmen, designed by the Spanish architect Rafael Moneo, was built. The Pontus Hultén Study Gallery was designed by Renzo Piano.
The museum shares its premises with the Swedish Centre for Architecture and Design.
Activity The museum organizes and is a venue for temporary contemporary art exhibitions throughout the year. In 2005, the museum hosted the onedotzero festival with the intention of attracting a new, younger audience to the museum with screenings, installations, talks and live VJ audio-visual events.
Until 4 October 2026, Moderna Museet is presenting Brassaï. The Secret Signs of Paris, an exhibition on the Hungarian-French photographer’s depictions of Parisian street life, signs, graffiti, and nocturnal urban culture.
Directors 1958–1973: Pontus Hultén 1973–1977: Philip von Schantz 1977–1979: Karin Lindegren 1980–1989: Olle Granath 1989–1995: Björn Springfeldt 1996–2001: David Elliott 2001–2010: Lars Nittve 2010–2018: Daniel Birnbaum 2018–2019: Ann-Sofi Noring (acting) Since 2019: Gitte Ørskou
See also List of museums in Stockholm
References
External links
– in Swedish and English