Skissernas Museum – Museum of Artistic Process and Public Art

Where ideas for public art come to life

Skissernas Museum, a short stroll from central Lund, is dedicated not to finished masterpieces but to the sketches, maquettes and models that come before them. Founded in 1934 by art historian Ragnar Josephson and now part of Lund University, it explores how public art is conceived, tested and refined before it ever reaches a square, façade or park. Instead of pristine, isolated canvases, you encounter walls packed floor to ceiling with drawings, colour studies and scale models. The result is an immersive sense of work in progress: you see corrections, second thoughts and abandoned ideas as clearly as the final direction. It is a museum about artistic decisions as much as artistic objects.

Vast galleries filled with experiments and early visions

The museum’s core is a set of soaring halls devoted to Swedish, international and Mexican public art. In the Swedish Gallery, early twentieth‑century modernists such as Sigrid Hjertén and Isaac Grünewald hang alongside more contemporary artists, creating a visual dialogue across generations. Nearby, the International Gallery presents preparatory works by figures like Henri Matisse, Sonia Delaunay, Fernand Léger and Henry Moore. One highlight is the collection of sketches for Mexican muralism, with works linked to Diego Rivera and David Alfaro Siqueiros. Here, pencil outlines evolve into vivid, politically charged compositions that would later cover massive walls. Small notations, colour swatches and compositional shifts reveal just how much thought goes into turning an idea into a monumental statement.

Architecture that echoes the spirit of a sketch

Skissernas has grown organically over decades into a cluster of interlinked buildings, from an early gymnasium hall to later concrete and brick additions. A major recent extension by architects Elding Oscarson reshaped the entrance with a corten‑clad façade, generous foyer, museum shop and restaurant opening onto the sculpture park. The rust‑toned metal and large, irregular windows deliberately evoke materials beloved by sculptors and the provisional feeling of a sketch. Inside, the covered inner courtyard, transformed into the Birgit Rausing Hall, feels like a light‑filled pavilion rather than a conventional auditorium. Its hovering reflective ceiling and tall clerestory windows bring in sky and hints of the surrounding facades, blurring the line between interior and open court. The architecture becomes another layer of the museum’s story about process, materials and experimentation.

Programs, archives and a living hub for creativity

Beyond the galleries, the museum functions as an active centre for contemporary art and discussion. A changing programme of temporary exhibitions broadens the focus from public commissions to wider explorations of how artists work with space, community and context. Artists‑in‑residence schemes, talks and performances bring new voices into the conversation. Behind the scenes, a substantial archive preserves photographs, press clippings and documentation of public artworks from the 1930s onward. Together with more than thirty thousand sketches and models, it offers a deep resource on how societies choose to display art in shared spaces. For visitors, this translates into exhibitions that constantly draw lines between historical projects and current debates.

Visiting the museum and its sculpture‑filled surroundings

A visit here is as much about atmosphere as individual pieces. The museum’s situation beside university buildings and green spaces gives it a relaxed campus feel. Outside, a small sculpture park extends the experience into the open air, featuring around twenty works, including a version of Carl Fredrik Reuterswärd’s iconic knotted‑barrel "Non‑Violence" pistol. Inside, you can pause between galleries in the café‑restaurant, whose Scandinavian menu leans on seasonal, local ingredients. Generous opening hours from Tuesday to Sunday and clear signage in English and Swedish make it easy to explore at your own pace. With accessible layouts, lifts and an inclusive programme for children, students and adults, Skissernas Museum invites anyone curious about how public art is made to step into the artist’s workshop in museum form.