A.P. Møller and Chastine Mc-Kinney Møller Foundation and the Gallery
A. P. Møller
The A.P. Møller and Chastine Mc-Kinney Møller Foundation has been a highly prized partner for the SMK for many years. For example, the Foundation made vital contributions to the exhibition Robert Jacobsen and Paris. The Poetry of Space and to Bjørn Nørgaard’s 12 plaster casts placed at the Central Art Academy in Beijing. In 2006 the Foundation also supported the exhibition Rembrandt? The Master and his Workshop, the most extensive exhibition on Rembrandt ever staged in Denmark. In 2013 The A.P. Møller and Chastine Mc-Kinney Møller Foundation co-funds the colourful spring exhibition Flowers and World Views.
Flowers and World Views
In 2013 the SMK presents the exhibition Flowers and World Views. Taking its point of departure in the Gottorfer Codex, an album of flower paintings, the exhibition shows how 17th and 18th century artists portrayed flowers, shrubs, and fruit. The museum conservators have performed extensive restoration work to prepare the works for public display, and the SMK is grateful to the A.P. Møller and Chastine Mc-Kinney Møller Foundation for being amongst the partners enabling the SMK to welcome visitors to an exhibition of floral splendour where ongoing restoration work is an integral part of the presentation.
The Collections are the Gallery’s heart
Our collaboration with the A. P. Møller Foundation continues in 2010. This year, the Foundation made a generous donation in support of the Gallery’s collections, thereby supporting one of Denmark’s most important collections of art. We believe that the Gallery’s pre-eminent task is to preserve art and to communicate knowledge and information pertaining to the artworks. The Gallery is the setting of many different activities, serving as a place to meet and as a framework for social activities and cultural pursuits. The collections themselves serve as the starting point of all these experiences. Here, visitors see the tangible outcomes of the Gallery’s work on research, information, education, communication, and conservation.
A new take on our Collections
The Gallery has long wished to stage a complete rehanging of the entire Collection, and thanks to the generosity of the Obel Family Foundation and others we have now begun carrying out those ambitious plants. Visitors can expect to see the collections re-interpreted to reflect contemporary takes on art history and to find the Gallery’s education and information activities updated with new analogue and digital offerings. Very importantly, new visitors’ facilities will contribute to an excellent overall museum experience.
Three main areas
Approximately 6,700m² of exhibition space will be renovated, and the complete rehanging will feature approximately 1,500 exhibits on display. The scope of the task and the resources required correspond to arranging several large-scale special exhibitions. The collections are divided into three main areas: Older European art, older Danish art, and modern post-1900 art. After the rehanging these three areas will constitute independent sections with largely independent profiles. Like three museums in one, each of them making full use of its own particular collections and their specific nature and potential.
Three museums in one
The new presentation of the museum’s Collections will be revealed in three stages. May of 2011 will see the opening of the section on older Danish art featuring art from 1750-1900. In the autumn of 2011 the section on European art from 1400-1800 will follow. Finally, the section on modern art will open its doors in the spring of 2012.
