Oslo, Norway

Nasjonalmuseet

The Nordics • See & do • Nasjonalmuseet in Oslo, Norway

What’s the museum in a nutshell?

Nasjonalmuseet, the National Museum, holds Norway’s most extensive collection of art, design and architecture – 6,500 of the 400,000 works are permanently showcased in the space. It was founded in 2003 when the National Gallery, the Museum of Art and Design, the Museum of Architecture and the Museum of Contemporary Art merged. With a whopping 54,600 sq m in size, it is also the largest museum in the Nordics. The monumental low-slung structure sits on the edge of the waterfront between the Sentrum and Akker Brygge areas.

What is the architecture like?

The new building, designed by Klaus Schuwerk for Kleihues + Kleihues, was inaugurated in June of 2022. The structure, in a ‘low-key monumentality’ expression as one of the Norwegian newspapers dubbed it, is topped by a translucent marble glass volume for temporary exhibitions. For the façade and vestibule cladding, slate from Oppdal in central Norway was cut vertically to – quite literally – display millions of years of Norwegian history.

What are the signature pieces?

The Nasjonalmuseet’s collection consists of approximately 400,000 works of which 6,500 are permanently displayed in the museum halls. The Nasjonalmuseum holds one of the world’s most important collections of paintings by Edvard Munch, including iconic works such as ‘The Scream’ (it is a well-known fact that ‘The Scream’ is a work that exists in several versions, and several of the others are held by Munchmuseet). Another unmissable artwork is the icy blue ‘Vinternatt i Rondane’ by Norwegian Neo-romantic painter Harald Sohlberg.

What’s the neighbourhood like?

Sentrum, which is Norwegian for ‘centre’, is the heart of Oslo and where most of the city’s major attractions are located. The neighbourhood’s main street, Karl Johans gate, connects Oslo’s downtown train station to the Royal Palace, one of the city’s most recognizable sights. The Bjørvika harbour area, with the city’s Instagram-friendly landmarks the Oslo Opera House, the Munch museum and the spectacular Barcode project, are also in the Sentrum area.