I’m a big fan of weekends. They just give me so much time to do awesome things and discover new places around this wonderful city. Pretty high on my “must see” list has been Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, located in Humlebæk about 30min north of Copenhagen. Since we had booked a stay in a spa hotel near Helsingør on Saturday, we spontaneously decided to hop off the train in Humlebæk, which lies neatly on the way, and get a bit of culture done!
Again, the Copenhagen fall weather could not have been better, and we enjoyed the train ride up the coast, where you can catch glimpses of the Øresund and some pretty amazing houses and villas through the trees lining the tracks. From the train station, it’s only a 10min walk up to the museum, which gave us the chance to enjoy the fresh air and autumn sun.
The museum’s location can’t be beat, right there overlooking the sea. It’s a beautiful old house, extended by a massive compound of halls, hallways and underground passages, all surrounded in a huge, beautiful sculpture park. You could spend hours and hours there and not be bored!
We started out with the small exhibit in the old building, before heading towards the big Emil Nolde exhibit, comprising 150 paintings encompassing his entire painting career.
We wandered along the long glass corridors, enjoying the artwork and the amazing views into the park. My favorite room was this beautiful space with two-story high glass windows overlooking a small lake. How cool would it be to host a birthday dinner there?
The permanent exhibition in the underground passage contains some very cool photography, among others some very intense portrait work. I loved the “100 years” exhibit, where the photographer had taken 100 individual portraits of different people spanning from 8 weeks to 100 years old. I also really liked this work showing an old shipwreck on the beach.
We ended up in the cafeteria, but it was extremely crowded, so we decided to skip the cake (though it did look delicious!) and enjoyed the large terrace overlooking the Øresund. I’ll just never, ever grow tired of these beautiful ocean views.
We then walked back through the garden and sculpture park, enjoying the colorful fall foliage and the artwork on display. But my personal favorite is this amazing building. I just love the porch area with the small columns, it reminds me of houses in the South of the United States (maybe that’s how the museum got its name?).
Finally, we headed to the side wing to see the famed “Riverbed” exhibition by Olafur Eliasson. In four rooms, the artist has created a full-on riverbed setting, complete with a tiny little stream running through - including a waterfall. It was quite fun to climb over the rocks, and definitely something else than what you usually see!
Of course, I went above and beyond to get great pictures of the installation!
Always walking the fine line between dedication and making a fool of myself in public!
After spending about two hours at the museum, we took the walk back to the station, rewarded ourselves with some ice cream, and hopped onto the next train to take us to our hotel for some well-deserved relaxation!
I thoroughly enjoyed Louisiana, and I will definitely come back and spend more time there. It is a great place to spend a weekend afternoon or even an entire day, with the vast park to stroll through and the amazing views to enjoy.
Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, Gl. Strandvej 13, 3050 Humlebæk (trains ca. 25-30min from CPH central station, Østerport, Nørreport), entrance DKK 110 (students DKK 95), louisiana.dk
hoptimist says
I loved the Riverbed installation! And Olafur Eliasson has made some truly iconic and amazing art (like Your Rainbow Panorama in Aarhus). I also love the reading room at one end of Louisiana - perfect to sit and relax and read about the artists on display. And of course the ridiculously tempting gift shop!
Laura says
I really enjoyed the riverbed installation as well. And yeah, the gift shop… Boyfriend was like “should we take a look around?” and I was like “get me out of here FAST before I buy everything!” :D
settdesign says
Love Emil Nolde’s work and what a great selection of photographs!
Laura says
Thank you so much! It really is a fantastic exhibit they have with his work. Definitely worth a visit!