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On the north Zealand coast in Humlebaek, with a
breathtaking view of Sweden, is the Louisiana Museum
of Modern Art.
By train, it is 35 minutes from Copenhagen, and
a ten-minute walk from the Humlebaek/Louisiana station.
You can buy a train ticket, anywhere in Denmark,
that includes a discounted Louisiana admission ticket.
You can also do this in Helsingborg and Malmo in
Sweden. To Elsinore is just another 10 or 15 minutes.
Some of the artists on display are Henry Moore,
Picasso, Rauschenberg, Giacometti, Warhol, Calder
and Francis Bacon.
The museum, founded in 1958, has been undergoing
improvements almost continuously, in the manner
of medieval cathedrals. The latest expansion was
in 1998.
It is called a congenial reflection of the interplay
between art, architecture and landscape. It’s
in a park, which is a great showcase for sculpture.
It has a childcare center. There is a café,
but on weekends it’s about as easy to get a
coffee as an audience with the queen. But you don’t
have to order anything, and it opens onto the sea.
Louisiana Museum has so many different architectural
styles it’s easier to say it doesn't have one
at all, but it’s meant to integrate the art.
It’s more like a silent partner to the art.
“Nature,” they say, “is allowed to
invade the domains of the buildings.”
Among the endless beauties on display are some
interesting future primitive naïve work, especially
one Henry Heerup, an influential mid-20th century
surrealist painter and sculptor.
Right now, Arne Jacobsen (“Absolutely Modern")
is the featured artist. Pop art is represented with
plastic, sequined Andy Warhol banana change purses
and Roy Lichtenstein do-it-yourself kits. This is
probably the place pop art has it over almost every
other form, in that it’s real easy to merchandise.
The Sorgeni company, a small shop that designs
its own iconoclastic bicycles, has two bikes on
display.
ELSINORE
What literate person could come so close to Hamlet’s
castle and ignore it? Readers are advised to take
the next train to Elsinore. They run every 10 minutes.
Elsinore, population 34,753, is also home of Elsinore
cathedral (Helsingor Domkirke) which is far older
-- construction began in the 13th century. Until
1804, the cathedral was the place to be buried,
and the wealthiest citizens all slept there together.
Elsinore has a pedestrian zone with sidewalk cafes
and several medieval streets, too thin for cars,
where the houses have been painted and restored
regularly over the centuries.
A very pleasant walk along the harbor will bring
you to Kronborg castle. Built by King Frederic II
in the 16th century, this is the castle that saw
the real-life drama of Hamlet. Not surprisingly,
there have often been performances in the courtyard,
which is massive.
There is also a medieval inn, called Radmand David's
Hus, built in 1694, on the Strandgade. Or right
around the corner, there’s the Ophelia restaurant,
in one of the two Hamlet Hotels. There are several
friendly pubs, right off the harbor, and everybody
speaks English there.
A pleasant train ride, just under an hour, will
bring you back to Copenhagen, uplifted, excercised,
well-fed, and feeling like a prince.
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