Holstebro Art Museum
A day in the world of art
The Holstebro Art Museum is located in the city of Holstebro. The museum is a state-recognized art museum focusing on modern art from around 1930 onwards and contemporary art. Annually, a minimum of three changing special exhibitions are displayed, and the museum complex offers inviting visitor facilities such as a lecture hall, museum shop, and café. Additionally, the museum can showcase a completely unique forecourt with a pavement of colored stones in a beautifully intricate pattern designed by the renowned Danish visual artist Martin Erik Andersen.
In addition to Danish art from the 20th and 21st centuries, the museum's collection encompasses a global perspective with art from several continents: including traditional African art in the form of masks and sculptures, Southeast Asian pottery, and ceramics from South America. The museum also holds an international collection of graphics by Picasso, Matisse, Giacometti, and Chagall, presented in changing installations. Alongside art from other cultures, these well-known masters have influenced the international Cobra movement and its associated artists in various ways. Several Danish artists are represented in the museum and exhibited permanently. These include, for example, Henry Heerup, Erik Thommesen, Ejler Bille, and Sonja Ferlov Mancoba, of whom the museum owns larger collections. Similarly, other prominent artists such as Astrid Noack, Anna Thommesen, and Olivia Holm-Møller are well represented.
Cultural and artistic diversity
The extensive African collection was a testamentary gift from sculptor and former lecturer at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, Poul Holm Olsen. Other donations have since been added, including a large collection of Balinese art, gifted to the museum by artists Ejler Bille and Agnete Therkildsen. The collection of international graphics has also been expanded to include works by Francisco Goya and Francis Bacon.
Visitors can experience more modern expressions in one of the most representative collections of the internationally renowned Danish artist Tal R, as well as works by Peter Linde Busk and the interculturally working artists Martin Erik Andersen and Emil Westman Hertz. International contemporary art is represented by, among others, the Nigerian-born visual artist Toyin Ojih Odutola and the German artist Daniel Richter. John Olsen's "Wunderkammer" is also always worth a visit, with its many curious objects such as half a brain, fossils, a shrunken head, two cat mummies, and a burnt owl - among much, much more!
The Holstebro Art Museum was founded in 1965 and opened in 1967 in a large patrician villa from 1904 - originally built for tobacco manufacturer Søren Færch (1870-1967). In 1981, a significant extension was added, designed by architect Hanne Kjærholm. The same architect was responsible for another expansion of the museum's space in 2011 with the inauguration of the so-called "Færchfløj", which is now used for the museum's changing exhibitions.
Two museums - one ticket
When you buy a ticket to the Holstebro Art Museum, you also get access to the city's cultural-historical museum, the Holstebro Museum. You can visit the museum café, the museum garden, and the shop without buying a ticket. Admission to the museums is free for children and young people under 26 years of age.
Events, workshops, and events
Throughout the year, the Holstebro Art Museum hosts a variety of activities for children and families as well as lectures, artist talks, and concerts. Keep an eye on the museum's website.