The Esbjerg Art Museum ( da, Esbjerg Kunstmuseum) is an independently owned art museum in

Esbjerg Esbjerg (, ) is a seaport town and seat of Esbjerg Municipality on the west coast of the Jutland peninsula in southwest Denmark. By road, it is west of Kolding and southwest of Aarhus. With an urban population of 71,698 (1 January 2022)

in southwest

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. Founded in 1910, in 1962 it moved into a new building in the City Park designed by Jytte og Ove Tapdrup. Since 1997, the museum has formed part of a complex which also contains the Esbjerg Performing Arts Centre.

History

Founded as ''Esbjerg Kunstforening'' (Esberg's Art Association) in 1910, the museum was first located in the public library (''Esbjerg Bibliotek'') in 1927. In 1930, it purchased works by modernists such as Harald Giersing, Edvard Weie and Vilhelm Lundstrøm. After moving into the new building in the City Park in 1962, the museum acquired

concrete Concrete is a composite material composed of fine and coarse aggregate bonded together with a fluid cement (cement paste) that hardens (cures) over time. Concrete is the second-most-used substance in the world after water, and is the most ...

works by Richard Mortensen and Robert Jacobsen as well as works from artists participating in the

Linien Linien (meaning "The Line") was an artists' association in Denmark in the 1930s and 1940s focusing on Abstraction and Symbolism. The group's exhibitions in Copenhagen created wide international participation. After the Second World War, the associ ...

and Linien II associations.

Architecture

Originally known as ''Kunstpavillonen'' (the Art Pavilion), the building in the City Park was designed by Jytte and Ove Tapdrup. Commanding an excellent position near the

Water Tower A water tower is an elevated structure supporting a water tank constructed at a height sufficient to pressurize a distribution system for potable water, and to provide emergency storage for fire protection. Water towers often operate in conjun ...

overlooking the harbour, the complex consists of a low permanent art gallery wing to the north and a two-storey exhibition area to the south. After the music conservatory moved into new premises in 1974, the museum gained additional space for the municipal collection which was extended with many important new works. The complex adopts a simple, refined style which takes advantage of the sloping ground with floors at various levels and a number of balconies. The concrete structure has aluminium windows and

spandrel A spandrel is a roughly triangular space, usually found in pairs, between the top of an arch and a rectangular frame; between the tops of two adjacent arches or one of the four spaces between a circle within a square. They are frequently fill ...

panels decorated with pebbles. In 1997, it was connected to the newly completed Esbjerg Performing Arts Centre by means of an extensive foyer serving both institutions. In this connection, various extensions were made to the museum, latterly in 2005.

Collection

The permanent collection covers Danish works from the beginning of the 20th century to the present day including foreign works by painters who have influenced Danish art. There is a focus on Realism and on Abstract art. In addition to works by Lundstrøm, the Linien artists, Richard Mortensen and Robert Jacobsen, there are paintings by Asger Jorn, Ejler Bille,

Ernest Mancoba Ernest (Methuen) Mancoba (29 August 1904 – 25 October 2002) was an avant-garde artist, born in Transvaal Colony, who spent the majority of his life in Europe. He was probably South Africa's first professional Black modern artist, and exhibited fr ...

and other COBRA artists. The sculpture exhibition includes works by Jørgen Haugen Sørensen,

Svend Wiig Hansen Svend Wiig Hansen (20 December 1922 – 15 March 1997) was a Danish sculptor and painter. Biography Wiig Hansen was born in Møgeltønder. He was initially undecided about his career, working as a circus clown and a singer until a job requiring hi ...

and Thomas Bang. Artists from the 1980s include Christian Lemmerz, Michael Kvium,

Claus Carstensen Claus (sometimes Clas) is both a given name and a German Language, German, Danish language, Danish, and Dutch language, Dutch surname. Notable people with the name include: Given name *Claus Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg (1907–1944), a German offi ...

and Peter Bonde while the 1990s are illustrated by works from

Christian Skeel Christian Skeel (born 8 June 1956) is a Danish artist and composer. He lives and works in Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in ...

Morten Skriver Morten is a common given name in Norway and Denmark. Approximately 22,138 have this name as a given name in Norway and about 52 people have it as a surname. Notable people with the name include: *Morten Abel, Norwegian singer *Morten Andersen, Dan ...

(Skeel & Skriver),

Per Bak Jensen Per Bak Jensen (born 22 April 1949) is a Danish landscape photographer. His desolate images of nature or industrial sites often convey an almost metaphysical impression. His unusual subjects include corn stubble, twigs in the snow or a few isolated ...

and

Nina Saunders Nina may refer to: * Nina (name), a feminine given name and surname Acronyms *National Iraqi News Agency, a news service in Iraq *Norwegian Institute for Nature Research, on the campus of Norwegian University of Science and Technology *No income, n ...

. A number of installations have been included since the beginning of the new millennium including two large displays by

Olafur Eliasson Olafur Eliasson ( is, Ólafur Elíasson; born 5 February 1967) is an Icelandic–Danish artist known for sculptured and large-scale installation art employing elemental materials such as light, water, and air temperature to enhance the viewer's ...

References

External links

Esbjerg Kunstmuseum website
} {{Authority control Buildings and structures in Esbjerg Museums in the Region of Southern Denmark Art museums established in 1962 Art museums and galleries in Denmark Modern art museums