Our Editor Views The National Museum of Art, Architecture and Design In Oslo

Written by Michael Sherrard Sunday, 21 August 2011 21:34

The National Museum of Art, Architecture and Design (Norwegian: Nasjonalmuseet for kunst, arkitektur og design) in Oslo is the national museum of art of Norway. It was established on 1 July 2003 through a merger of the Norwegian Museum of Architecture, the Museum of Decorative Arts and Design, the Museum of Contemporary Art, the National Gallery, and the National Touring Exhibitions. In 2003 the museum was established as a foundation, merging the former Norwegian Museum of Architecture, Museum of Decorative Arts and Design, Museum of Contemporary Art and National Gallery. A new director, Sune Nordgren, was appointed, and the work of restructuring the National Museum from four separate museums began. This entailed the creation of one, split-function organization with four different exhibition venues. In April 2005, most of the staff of the National Museum moved to a new administration building in Kristian Augusts, close to Tullinløkka. On the 1 July 2005 the National Touring Exhibitions, Norway became part of the National Museum. The aims of the new museum are to 'raise the level of knowledge about and commitment to the visual arts, architecture, the decorative arts and design, develop critical faculties, stimulate new perceptions, increased historical consciousness and tolerance of diversity'. The National Museum of Art, Architecture and Design lends a number of works from the Collections to exhibitions in Norway and abroad. Artworks from the National Museum are also on loan to State buildings in Norway and abroad. The National Museum is a forward-looking and innovative arena for the experience of the visual arts. At the same time it should be a safeguard for many of the nation’s art treasures. With this project the nation will have a unifying and worthy National Museum, which is well- exposed, extrovert and easily accessible. The overall concept holds rationality and possesses openness that gives great opportunity for the flexibility of the different functions. At the same time the building contains of dramatic and challenging room sequences in a unique and very modern building. The experience of the project should be characterized by the interaction and synergy between the sites’ distinctiveness, the different parts of the project and the overall architectural expression. The museum emerges as Norway’s national icon.

Older and modern art is on show at the National Gallery, contemporary art at the Museum of Contemporary Art. The main emphasis of the collection is on Norwegian painting and sculpture from the 19th century. The museum also holds an extensive collection of drawings and prints by Norwegian and international artists. Highlights of the collection include major works by Edvard Munch, including The Scream. Other important artists include J.C. Dahl, Adolph Tidemand, Hans Gude, Harriet Backer and Christian Krohg. The collections from the 20th century illustrate the development of Norwegian fine art with reference to key works of Nordic and international art in the fields of painting, sculpture, photography, video and other media. Central to the collection of international contemporary art is Ilya Kabakov's permanent installation The Man Who Never Threw Anything Away (1988–1995).The National Museum holds, preserves, exhibits, and promotes public knowledge about, Norway's most extensive collections of art, architecture and design. It shows permanent exhibitions of works from its own collections and temporary exhibitions that incorporate works loaned from elsewhere. The Museum's exhibition venues in Oslo are the National Gallery, the Museum of Contemporary Art, the National Museum – Architecture, and the Museum of Decorative Arts and Design. Design and crafts are on show at the Museum of Decorative Arts and Design. The collection ranges from antique Greek vases and East Asian art objects through to the history of European design. It covers costume, fashion and textiles, furniture, silverware, glass, ceramics and other crafts. Among the collection's highlights are the Baldishol Tapestry, a unique woven Gobelin tapestry from the 12th century, the royal costume collection, and 18th century glass from Nøstetangen, Norway's first glass workshop. The Museum's programme also includes exhibitions that tour both within and beyond Norway's borders. The library of the National Museum of Art, Architecture and Design is one of the leading specialist libraries for art and art history in Norway. In addition to the book collection, it consists of magazines, exhibition catalogues and newspaper cuttings about Norwegian and international artists and exhibitions. Exhibitions based on the museum’s collection of architects’ archives, and is a collaboration with the Department of Philosophy, Classics, History of Art and Ideas at the University of Oslo.