Tuesday - Danish National Museum, Glyptotek and SMK

It was forecast to be pretty much rain all day, so I put off my Roskilde trip and went to a few museums. I started off with a trip to the national museum, following Danish history from prehistory to present day. Danish museum craft seems to be top-knotch: a great set of displays and information in English. Treasure hoards, an ancient ship from a bog, flints, daggers, swords, burials and a sacrificed woman from a bog. Bogs seem to have been a favourite repository for offerings. One exhibit was quite enchanting: a couple of dozen dolls houses with the backs taken out so you can see the both the front and contents. The lighting is dim, I expect not to fade the curtains, and the dolls houses are at different heights so you have to bend down to see into the lowest ones. Or be a child to comfortably see in. It is listed on my Copenhagen Card - although it is free entry, they give a pack of 6 postcards to Copenhagen Card holders, so I am not wholly missing out on dollar value visiting a freebie.

Some of the treasures of the Danish Museum

The Glyptotek

Next was the 'Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek.' I felt a bit cheated as it was their regular free day, so I didn't need to use my Copenhagen Card. Glyptotek, I've discovered since, means a sculpture repository. The Copenhagen Glyptotek was established from the private collection of the Carlsberg heir and is housed in a building with a winter garden under a great glass dome. The Rodin collection, including the amazing 'Burghers of Calais,' is pretty stunning. The gallery also has a big collection of Degas sculptures.

The winter garden

Had a great open sandwich (chicken salad, mushrooms, tomatoes and thin slices of bacon - generous and tasty) and glass of wine overlooking the garden. I shared a table with a Danish lady and her 3 year old grandson and so had a good chat with a local.

I scouted out the Magasin department store which has a Danish design section on the third floor. Hoping to have a few krone left to dispose of before I'm off to Sweden.

Next stop, the National Art Gallery, SMK, which has a free permanent collection, but I managed to gain dollar value again with my Card to get into an exhibition of 60s and 70s feminist art. The gallery is well laid out, spacious and light, especially the new annex at the back. In that section, a whole room of colourful abstract geometrics are pretty magical. If the NSW Art Gallery extension can do something similar, I'll be happy. My old pal Matisse is well represented at the SMK. The gallery didn't have many visitors. It is a weird feeling to be in a room alone with a few Rembrandts.

Picked up some Matisse postcards and one by a Copenhagen artist, Vilhelm Hammershøi, who painted quite ethereally. A few nudies amongst them.