Skissernas Museum: Step inside the minds of Matisse and Moore

By Ulrika Kuoppa-Jones | Photos: Johan Persson

A visit to Skissernas Museum – Museum of Artistic Process and Public Art in Lund, Sweden, is like a legitimate exercise in curtain twitching: a fascinating peak into the minds of great artists like Henri Matisse, Sonia Delaunay, Henry Moore, Fernand Léger and many more. No wonder then, that the Swedish Museums Association and the Swedish branch of the International Council of Museums named it the Museum of the Year 2019.

The museum holds the world’s largest collection of sketches and models for art in public space – mind-boggling models and quick sketches that give us an insight into the thinking processes behind some of the world’s most famous art.

So, what makes sketches so interesting to study? “You can think of sketches as a creative tool – a tool used by everybody, and something we can all relate to. A sketch can be made to find a solution to a problem. It’s a generous process that allows for exciting experiments and trying out different paths to get to the solution. It’s liberating!” says head of museum, Patrick Amsellem.

Skissernas Museum

The International Gallery, with models by Jean Arp and sketches by Pierre Soulages.

The Museum of Artistic Process and Public Art’s collection contains over 30,000 works, everything from scribbled pencil sketches and tiny copper-wire models, to five-metre-high plaster sculptures and completed works. The museum is also home to one of Europe’s top collections of colourful sketches of Mexican monumental paintings by Diego Rivera, David Alfaro Siqueiros and many more.

This spring and summer, the museum shines a light on a multi-talented Swedish artist’s creative processes. “Jockum Nordström is an artist with relentless imagination. He’s always at work, thinking about his projects – even on a walk through the forest. His approach to art is playful and never-ending – he creates collages and paper cuttings while he writes children’s books and composes music. We’re devoting a whole gallery to his new art installation, a play with shadows and light, which takes over the room with its exciting shapes and colours,” says Amsellem.

The newly installed open archive is very popular.

The museum has visitors from all over the world, and because it belongs to Lund University, a lot of students and artists come here on a regular basis. “Some artists have told us that this is their favourite place. They love to come here to get a sneak peek into the minds of their art-creating colleagues. It’s very intimate, as artists hardly ever show their sketches to others. Visiting us is like exploring something that really wasn’t meant to be seen by anyone else. And that’s what makes it magic!” Amsellem smiles.