Today I and the family had a little excursion to Haugar art museum where they are currently exhibiting some 180 works by 95 artists from the museums collection. Opened back in 1995, the museum has slowly built a collection of about 500 works, a big part consisting of local Norwegian artists. In 2020 the museum is celebrating its 25th year, and due to the ongoing Covid-pandemic they’ve had to redone some of their plans, scrapping some exhibitions and pushing this anniversary exhibition a few months forward. The exhibition opened on 29. of June and the artworks displayed on the ground floor will be changed 6. September while the first floor exhibition will remain until 30. December.
Haugar is a fairly new museum, and this is evident in their collection which in large part is more modern and contemporary artists. An art museum in Vestfold that had opened in 1920 had for example likely had a lot more Edvard Munch and similar famous Norwegian artists. However, the collection is still pretty strong and contains works from most of the “big names” in Norwegian art, and the exhibition is well worth a visit. Below a few pictures from the exhibition and some of the more well-known pieces.
Two of the more important recent purchases are displayed in the first room of the first floor. Morten Fiskums “The Clown” (2012) bought in 2017 and Sverre Mallings “Norwegian Muskox” (2016) bought in 2016.
Haugar has several works by Bjarne Melgaard, and in this exhibition a selection is displayed in their octogonal room on the ground floor – and it even comes with a warning that some might find the art displayed offensive. Melgaard is well-known to be controversial and the works displayed takes on themes like incest and zoophilia. Personally I find him a pretty bland artist, trying too much to provoke and not enough time to create truly interesting ideas and depth…
Haugar also has several works by well-known photographers, with several displayed on the ground floor of the exhibition ( but to be frank I’m not that interested in photos as artworks).
The museum is open Monday-Friday between 11 and 17 and Saturday and Sunday between 12 and 17. Tickets are 100 NOK for adults, Seniors/Students 70 NOK, children below age 18 enter for free. Why not visit Haugar this summer if you’re in Tønsberg/Vestfold region?
Tabletop Cave 