The Rudolph Tegner Museum is set in the middle of a protected area just south of
Dronningmølle on
Zealand
Zealand ( ) is the largest and most populous islands of Denmark, island in Denmark proper (thus excluding Greenland and Disko Island, which are larger in size) at 7,031 km2 (2715 sq. mi.). Zealand had a population of 2,319,705 on 1 Januar ...
's north coast, some 50 km north of
Copenhagen
Copenhagen ( ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a population of 1.4 million in the Urban area of Copenhagen, urban area. The city is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager, separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the ...
,
Denmark
Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...
. The museum is dedicated to the oeuvre of the sculptor
Rudolph Tegner
Rudolph Tegner (12 July 1873 – 5 June 1950) was a Danish sculptor linked to the Symbolist movement. In the early 20th century his work caused considerable controversy in Denmark. A large number of his works are on display in the Rudolph Tegner ...
(1873–1950). The museum exhibits some 250 of Tegner's sculptures as well as models in plaster, clay, bronze and marble. The surrounding terrain features 14 of his statues.
History
Rudolph Tegner acquired the central portion of the area in 1916. He initially mounted the group sculpture ''King Oedipus and Antigone'' and later, in 1924, followed the group sculpture ''The Enigma of Lone'' and then several others. The museum building was built to Tegner's own design with the assistance of the architect
Mogens Lassen
Mogens Lassen (20 February 1901 – 14 December 1987) was a Modernist Danish architect and designer, working within the idiom of the International Style. He mainly designed residential buildings, both in the form of single-family houses and apartm ...
(1901–1987). Construction began in 1937 and it was inaugurated in 1938. A renovation was completed in 2003.
Architecture
The museum is built in concrete to an unusual
bunker
A bunker is a defensive military fortification designed to protect people and valued materials from falling bombs, artillery, or other attacks. Bunkers are almost always underground, in contrast to blockhouses which are mostly above ground. T ...
-like
Modernist
Modernism was an early 20th-century movement in literature, visual arts, and music that emphasized experimentation, abstraction, and Subjectivity and objectivity (philosophy), subjective experience. Philosophy, politics, architecture, and soc ...
design. The building needed large dimensions to embrace Tegner's works many of which are of very large proportions. The core of the museum is a large octagonal gallery with ceilings 11 metres high. The original intention was to build lower galleries on all of its sides but for economic reasons only two of these galleries were built, leaving three out of eight of the core sides unbound. The museum has been built without picture windows to avoid distracting the visitor with views of the scenic surroundings. Except for a small window in the gable, all natural light comes from skylights. Concrete as a material was chosen for reasons of fire safety.
The difference in scale between the entrance section and the main gallery is designed to create an overwhelming experience for those entering the museum and to enhance its character of a treasury. The façade bears reference to Antique architecture.
[
]
Sculpture park
The Rudolph Tegner Museum and Statue Park is run and is owned by a private grant founded by Rudolph and Elna Tegner. The site which Tegner later ceded to the Danish State originally covered some 17 hectares of land in the core of an area known as Rusland, the Danish name for Russia
Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...
. It consists of undulating heath with scattered trees and juniper
Junipers are coniferous trees and shrubs in the genus ''Juniperus'' ( ) of the cypress family Cupressaceae. Depending on the taxonomy, between 50 and 67 species of junipers are widely distributed throughout the Northern Hemisphere as far south ...
vegetation.
See also
* List of single-artist museums
This is a list of single-artist museum, single–artist museums, which are museums displaying the work, or bearing the name, of a single visual artist.
See also
* :Museums devoted to one artist
* List of art museums
* List of most visited art mu ...
References
External links
*
Images from Arkitekturbilleder.dk
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Art museums and galleries in Denmark
Buildings and structures completed in 1937
Art museums and galleries established in 1938
1938 establishments in Denmark
Museums in the Capital Region of Denmark
Museums devoted to one artist