The past and the future
Uppsala Konstmuseum has more than 14,000 works in its collection, which features regional and Swedish paintings from the 20th century to today, drawings and watercolours, sculptures, installations, objects and video art.
Nearly half of the works in the collection are prints in various techniques and from many different eras, going back to the 16th century. We also have a large number of ceramic pieces from Upsala-Ekeby. There are some 1,300 objects, consisting of the more artistically oriented output from the Upsala-Ekeby earthenware factory.
The collection was created through donations and acquisitions. A substantial part comes from the art society Uplands konstförening’s collection, which was donated to Uppsala Municipality in the early 1990s.
The collection is still growing, also with international contemporary works.
Building and presenting a collection is a conscious and dynamic process. The collection forms a baseline that can be arranged and featured in new constellations according to current themes and exhibitions. Most of the works in a museum collection are kept in storage. By actively highlighting works from the collection in exhibitions and reflecting them in new ways, we create and rewrite art history. The world is redefined and the collection is refined as it grows. Prints and ceramics form a major part of the Uppsala Konstmuseum collection and are therefore crucial to its content and identity.
Acquisitions and donations
The Uppsala Konstmuseum collection was created through donations, acquisitions and gifts. In recent years, the collection was expanded with several works purchased with our own funds. Works have been donated by artists, private collectors and the Harald and Märta Wennersten-Markson Foundation.
Here are the priority areas in Uppsala Konstmuseum’s acquisitions policy:
Works by regional artists of note who are missing from the collection.
Works by regional artists of note who are represented in the collection, but where key works are missing.
Complementary works by the artists from the turn of the century who represent the “Golden Age of Uppland”.
Works included in exhibitions produced inhouse.
Complementary works by individual artists in the collection. The purpose is to achieve a representative selection of works by individual artists.
Art prints, to keep up with development in this field, with new styles, materials and techniques.
Complementary works by Swedish 20th-century artists.
Complementary ceramic works from Upsala Ekeby.
Works by young up-and-coming artists, including the recipients of the Anna-Lisa Thomson memorial grant.