National Museum of Art, Architecture and Design

National Museum of Art, Architecture and Design

National Museum of Art, Architecture and Design de facto includes five museums - the National Gallery, Museum of Applied Arts, Musuem of Modern Art, Museum of Architecture and State Exhibitions. These institutions merged 11 February 2003 r., however, they still have separate offices.

The oldest among the institutions of the National Museum of Art, Architecture and Design (norw. The National Museum of Art, Architecture and Design) is the National Gallery (norw. The National Gallery). It was founded in 1836 r. pursuant to a decision of the Norwegian Parliament and was initially to present works by Norwegian authors. Over time, however, the Gallery also expanded to include canvases by foreign artists, primarily French Impressionists. W 1882 r. At that time, the already considerable collection of the gallery was transferred to the grand one, neo-renaissance building, designed by Heinrich Ernst Schirmer. Today, the museum building is slightly larger, because in the first two decades of the twentieth century. the northern and southern wings were added to the original Schrimer's body.

Currently part of the National Museum of Art, The National Gallery of Architecture and Design boasts the largest art collection in all of Norway - it's close by 4,5 thousand. images, almost a thousand sculptures and the same number of plaster casts, and finally over 17 thousand. drawings and 25 thousand. graphic. The painting collections in the museum are the most popular. As for the canvases of Norwegian painters, these are, for example, "Villa Malta in Rome" and "Study of Birch" by Johan Christian Clausen Dahl, "Honeymoon Procession in Hardanger" by Adolph Tidemand, "Mountain Landscape" by Ole Peter Hansen Balling or "Winter in the Mountains" by Harald Sohlberg. When it comes to foreign painting, it is here that the works of French painters should be mentioned - "View of the World Exhibition in 1867", "Mrs. Manet in the Greenhouse" and "The Surprised Nymph" by Edouard Manet, After the Bath by Auguste Renoir, "Painting studio on rue Carcel" and "Mette Gaugin in an evening dress" by Paul Gauguin and finally "Landscape near Jas-de-Bouffan" by Paul Cezanne.

Two branches of the National Museum of Art, Of Architecture and Design - the former Museum of Contemporary Art (norw. The Museum of Contemporary Art) and the Museum of Architecture (norw. The National Museum - Architecture), are situated on Bankplassen (in separate buildings, however). The Museum of Contemporary Art was founded in 1988 r., and to the current building, built from the beginning. XX w. by Ingvar Hjorth in the Art Nouveau style, it has been moved in 1990 r. The museum's collection consists of works by contemporary artists (forming after 1945 r.), previously collected at the National Gallery. Today, the collections of this department amount to approx. 5 thousand. images, sculptures, drawings or graphics, as well as videos and various installations. The latter are also among the greatest attractions of the museum - you can see, for example, an installation by Ilya Kabakov, Pera Inge Bjørlo or Richard Serry. As for the Museum of Architecture, that of 2008 r. It is situated in an elegant building from the first half of the 19th century. XIX w., designed by a renowned Norwegian architect, Christiana Heinricha Groscha (though, similarly to the building of the National Gallery, the building of the Museum of Architecture was enlarged twice - once from the beginning of the. XX w., and once from the beginning. XXI w.). The Museum of Architecture mainly organizes temporary exhibitions, so you can see various models here, drawings or photos, presenting the achievements of ancient and modern architecture.

The former Museum of Applied Arts also has extremely interesting collections (norw. The Museum of Art and Design), located at ul. St. Olavs. It is actually one of the oldest museums in Norway, for it was founded in 1876 r. The museum's collections are close 35 thousand. various exhibits - from ceramics and silverware, by textiles and glass objects, to furniture and arts and crafts. The exhibits are divided into several sections, which include:

utility and decorative glass and ceramics;
textiles and clothing, including royal costumes;
everyday objects from the Middle Ages to the early. XX w.
everyday objects or artistic craftsmanship of the 20th century.