The Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, located twenty miles north of Copenhagen, Denmark, is famous for its enchanting seaside setting, distinctive architecture and welcoming, unpretentious atmosphere. Constructed around a park, the museum occupies the grounds of a nineteenth-century estate, Louisiana, established by a beekeeping aristocrat who planted a collection of exotic trees and married three women named Louise. 100 years later, the art collector Knud W. Jensen purchased the estate, adopted the existing villa as the centerpiece of his new museum and began planning an unconventional institution that would unite art and nature. The first extension to the villa, designed by Jørgen Bo and Vilhelm Wohlert, opened in 1958 and is a masterpiece of modern architecture. Over the next four decades, the same architects would construct five more extensions that reflected changes in the character of contemporary art and the evolution of Louisiana’s collection. The result is a place for experiencing culture in every form, dedicated to the idea that Art is Life. Louisiana – Architecture and Landscape guides the reader on a step-by-step journey: following Jensen and his architects as they transform Louisiana from an idealistic experiment into an institution of international scope and stature. Written for a general audience and illustrated with more than 500 photos and drawings, the book will appeal to anyone interested in modern art, architecture and landscape. It is the essential guide to one of the most innovative and beautiful museums in the world.
Michael Sheridan is an architect in New York City and a scholar of modern Danish architecture, furniture and design. Sheridan has written and lectured extensively on those subjects, and his published works include Room 606 – The SAS House and the Work of Arne Jacobsen, Poul Kjærholm – Furniture Architect, and Landmarks – The Modern House in Denmark. Sheridan’s association with the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art extends back to 2002, and his history of the museum, Louisiana – Architecture and Landscape, is the result of primary-source research conducted over more than a decade. He was educated at the University of Minnesota and Columbia University. |
