The Study Gallery

At present, you can choose between more than twenty screens with some of our most popular works, and some that are less well-known. The Study Gallery also offers selected art books and catalogues linked to Moderna Museet’s exhibitions and works in the collection, and many books from the private library of Moderna Museet’s former director Pontus Hultén. Take a seat and browse through a publication or two, and learn more about an artist or subject.

created according to the ideas of Pontus Hultén

The Study Gallery was created according to the ideas of Pontus Hultén, the director of Moderna Museet in 1960 to 1973. He used to discuss with the internationally-acclaimed architect Renzo Piano (born 1937), about what a future dream museum could look like – a museum where the art could be retrieved at the push of a button.

In this way, the Study Gallery is a prototype for a future museum where visitors select, and art customise their museum experience.

The Museum as a meeting place for all arts

Pontus Hultén was instrumental in making the Museum a meeting place for all arts, including film, sound and performance.

One of his most famous exhibitions was Movement in Art (1961), featuring works by Marcel Duchamp, Jean Tinguely, Alexander Calder and Robert Rauschenberg. Some of the works were added to the Moderna Museet collection. These artists, who became close friends of Hultén, are also represented in his donation, along with works by Niki de Saint Phalle, Jasper Johns and Sam Francis and others.

Moderna Museet received Pontus Hultén’s art collection in 2005

Pontus Hultén donated his collection, his library and his private archive to Moderna Museet in 2005. Together with the architect Renzo Piano whom Hultén met during his time as director of Centre Pompidou in Paris (1974-1981), the Study Gallery was created, with funding from the Friends of Moderna Museet.