Skissernas Museum: World-class museum for public art

By Malin Norman

Skissernas Museum – Museum of Artistic Process and Public Art houses the world’s largest collection of sketches, models and prototypes for Swedish and international public artworks. Here, visitors can explore the creative process behind some of the world’s most significant public art, discovering the sketches, plans, images and objects that shaped the final works.

Founded in 1934 at Lund University, Skissernas Museum is a world-class art museum with a clear focus: the artistic process and art in public space. The museum is home to the world’s largest collection of creative-process works and public art and includes 30,000 objects from across the globe. “You really need to come and see it for yourself. It’s mindboggling,” says Annie Lindberg, museum director.

Photo: Johan Persson

In the large exhibition halls, modern and contemporary art meet – from small pencil drawings to colourful monumental paintings and large-scale plaster sculptures. You will find sketches by international artists such as Barbara Hepworth, Henri Matisse, Sonia and Robert Delaunay, Henry Moore and Fernand Léger. Plus, one of Europe’s foremost collections of sketches by Mexican monumental painters such as Diego Rivera and David Alfaro Siqueiros. And the Swedish hall displays works by Sigrid Hjertén, Isaac Grünewald and Siri Derkert, and contemporary artists such as Linn Fernström, Carolina Falkholt and Ann Edholm.

“The sketches provide insight into the artists’ working methods, how ideas are explored and how works of art take shape,” explains Lindberg. “They also raise important questions about our public spaces, democratic processes and history writing: who decides over our public spaces and how they are designed? Which voices are heard? What role do memorials and monuments play in the writing of history, in democracy and in freedom of expression?”

The art in our shared public spaces is not only an expression of aesthetic values, it is also identity-creating and expresses the times we live in, believes the museum director. “Memorials and monuments are one of our most expressive forms of public art,” she says. “They shape our shared spaces, arouse emotions and become arenas for conversations about identity, history and democracy. They tell us who we once were – and who we choose to pay attention to today.”

In addition to the main exhibitions, the museum presents temporary exhibitions with both contemporary and older artists every year. And a rich and varied programme is offered for all ages with guided tours, artist talks, lectures, concerts, performances, creative workshops and much more. You can also enjoy delicious food on the terrace of the museum’s award-winning restaurant, with views across the Sculpture Park.