Vejle Museum of Art ( da, Vejle Kunstmuseum) in the town centre of

Vejle Vejle () is a city in Denmark, in the southeast of the Jutland Peninsula at the head of Vejle Fjord, where the Vejle River and Grejs River and their valleys converge. It is the site of the councils of Vejle Municipality ('' kommune'') and th ...

in southeastern

Jutland Jutland ( da, Jylland ; german: Jütland ; ang, Ēota land ), known anciently as the Cimbric or Cimbrian Peninsula ( la, Cimbricus Chersonesus; da, den Kimbriske Halvø, links=no or ; german: Kimbrische Halbinsel, links=no), is a peninsula of ...

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of Denmark , establish ...

has Danish paintings and sculptures from classic modernism up until pre- COBRA on display. The museum is also home to a collection of

Golden Age The term Golden Age comes from Greek mythology, particularly the '' Works and Days'' of Hesiod, and is part of the description of temporal decline of the state of peoples through five Ages, Gold being the first and the one during which the G ...

paintings from the Vejle area as well as a collection of drawings, e.g. 50 etchings by Rembrandt.

Collection

The museum was founded in 1899 when councillor Christian Eckardt donated approx. 2000 drawings. The present collection counts more than 15,000 works on paper including art by Albrecht Dürer,

Andrea Mantegna Andrea Mantegna (, , ; September 13, 1506) was an Italian painter, a student of Roman archeology, and son-in-law of Jacopo Bellini. Like other artists of the time, Mantegna experimented with perspective, e.g. by lowering the horizon in orde ...

and Rembrandt as well as Danish artists. The collection was substantially enhanced when in 1995 a butcher and his wife donated their collection of early COBRA works to the museum. Among the modern Danish highlights of the museum are works by

Asger Jorn Asger Oluf Jorn (3 March 1914 – 1 May 1973) was a Danish painter, sculptor, ceramic artist, and author. He was a founding member of the avant-garde movement COBRA and the Situationist International. He was born in Vejrum, in the northwest c ...

, Else Alfelt,

Carl-Henning Pedersen Carl-Henning Pedersen (23 September 1913 – 20 February 2007) was a Danish painter and a key member of the COBRA movement. He was known as the "Scandinavian Chagall", and was one of the leading Danish artists of the second half of the 20th ...

Ejler Bille Ejler Bille (6 March 1910 – 1 May 2004) was a Danish artist. Biography Ejler Bille was born in Odder, Denmark. He was the son of Torben Holger Bille and Anna Kirstine Lysabild Jensen. Bille graduated from Birkerød State School in 1930, and then ...

Richard Mortensen Richard Mortensen (23 October 1910 – 6 January 1993) was a Danish painter. Biography Richard Strange Mortensen was born in Copenhagen, Denmark. He studied between 1931 and 1932 at the Royal Danish Academy of Art in Copenhagen. Influenced by the ...

, Robert Jacobsen and Henry Heerup. The museum re-opened in 2006 after building new exhibition spaces with a presentation of works by

Merete Barker Merete Barker (born 1944) is a Danish artist who uses sketches and photographs from her many travels as the basis for highly expressive paintings where it is often difficult to distinguish between nature and culture. She has received various honor ...

, Jes Fomsgaard, Nina Sten Knudsen, Preben Fjederholt, Anders Moseholm, Doris Bloom, Hans Christian Rylander, Peter Brandes and Morten Stræde. The re-opening coincided with the 400th anniversary for Rembrandt's birth for which reason the museum showcased the drawings from the Dutch master.

The building

The museum is housed in a complex consisting of the former museum from 1923 and library from 1934 in Vejle to which a new building by Kim Utzon was added in 2006. The three different types of buildings offer different types of exhibition spaces; the 1923 building has small, intimate rooms where drawings, graphic art, and paintings of an older date can be seen. The 1934 building has larger rooms where pre-COBRA works from the 1930s and 1940s are displayed. The Utzon building has a large room with a skylight fit for contemporary art. It also has a storage area as well as a study gallery.

Opening times

Located at Flegborg 16-18, Vejle, the museum is open to visitors free of charge from 11 am to 4 pm. Closed from 22 to 26 December, 31 December, and 1 January.

References

External links

Vejle Kunstmuseum
official site {{Coord, 55, 43, N, 9, 32, E, display=title Art museums and galleries in Denmark Vejle Municipality Tourist attractions in the Region of Southern Denmark Museums established in 1899 Art exhibitions in Denmark 1899 establishments in Denmark