Ordrupgaard — Attraction in Gentofte Municipality

An easy train tride from Copenhagen's Central Station to Klampenberg which is about 20 mins north of CPH on the coast; very residential areas. You can walk to the museum (about 15 mins from the train station) or take a bus, which I did. Bus takes about 5 minutes. Wide range of modern art, including lesser-known works/drafts by the major Impressionists; lots of Danish artists; interesting ceramics display; and outdoor park with multiple sculpture installations. Enjoyed the twig building that you could climb through and the mist-blowing circle. Had lunch at their cafe; the inside seat ing area reminded me of an airplane hangar (large, echoing space w loud music) but the outside area was delightful with big umbrellas and views of the garden. Limited menu, but I ordered an open faced chicken salad. The chicken salad came, and it didn’t look like any chicken salad I ever saw – it was a work of art. 2 1/2 inch wide curl of apple that was probably 14 inches long. I have no idea what type of apple produced that curl or what tool they used to create it. It had pepper sprinkled on the top of the apple. The salad had crunchy bacon strips, capers and baby pea shoots/leaves. It was extremely tasty!

I had reserved the 2:15 guided tour through the on-site Finn Juhl house; primarily famous because he was a famous architect and interior designer, as in design designing furniture. So the house is decorated just as it was when he lived there for 35 years. In addition to the furniture, he had lots of modern Danish art; now this art was appealing. Odd house and very understated except I guess if you’re in the know about interior design...

I was really interested in seeing Finn Juhl's house on a recent 4 day trip to Copenhagen from Germany. So I rented a bike and cycled from my hotel in Copenhagen all the way to the North of Copenhagen to see Ordrupgaard. A total distance of 30 kms one way by bicycle. I was wearing sweatpants and a T-shirt. I used the electronic ticket on my mobile phone to view the painting exhibits. But my interest was in the house. So I quickly went through the paintings, exited the main building and went to view Finn Juhl's house. This is where things got a bit strange. As I entered the house, I was once again asked to show my ticket: I had to turn on my mobile phone, go to the download folder and open up the ticket and show it again. I then proceeded slowly inside. But I noticed almost nobody else was asked to show their tickets before entering the house. I felt insulted and annoyed and tried best to stay calm , taking pictures of the different rooms. I left and then went to the Cafe and had lunch. I don't look like a typical Danish person, being dark skinned and having black straight hair, plus I was wearing sweatpants to be comfortable during cycling. Not sure what the person checking my ticket was thinking? - I am going to steal something from Juhl's house? But a strong piece of advice: CHECK EVERY PERSON WHO ENTERS Juh'ls house or DO NOT CHECK ANY PERSON ENTERING the house. Based on my experience, I will give the...

Verdensklasse-samling af fransk malerkunst centreret omkring impressionismen, men også perioderne før og efter. Indsamlet af den kunstkyndige forsikrings-magnat Wilhelm Hansen til sit store nye hus i Ordrup især under første verdenskrig, hvor priserne i Paris var i bund.

Hvor god samlingen end er, har den faktisk været endnu bedre. For mange af de bedste værker blev desværre solgt fra i 1922-23, da Wilhelm Hansen selv kom i økonomisk uføre. Nogle af de frasolgte værker kan ses på Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek dag, men de fleste gik til udenlandske samlere. Den danske stat fik endda samlingen tilbudt til spotpris, men valgte helt uforklarligt at takke nej. Tænk hvis museet stadig havde haft eksempelvis nogle af Monets berømte høstak- og katedral-billeder!

Wilhelm Hansen kom siden ovenpå igen og genoptog købene af fransk kunst, men nu var priserne steget, og han kunne ikke erhverve kunst i helt samme liga.

Efter Wilhelm Hansens død testamenterede hans enke samlingen og ejendommen til staten, som i mellemtiden var kommet til fornuft og siden 1953 har drevet Ordrupgaard som museum.

Stor samling dansk kunst ligeledes fra 1800-tallet og begyndelsen af 1900-tallet, fx. en del billeder af L.A. Ring og Vilhelm Hammershøi.

I dag huser beboelses-fløjen og det oprindelige galleri fra 1918 den danske samling.

Arkitektfirmaet Snøhettas underjordiske tilbygning fra 2021 har givet den franske samling gode forhold, men synd at arkitektens ego skulle lade et temmelig umotiveret ståltag rage op, da tilbygningen sagtens kunne være helt skjult.

Zaha Hadids tilbygning fra 2005 er mindre diskret for at sige det pænt, men den for danske forhold fremmedartede arkitektur er ikke uinteressant. Udstillingsrummene i denne bygning virker gode nok, og i dag bliver de især brugt til særudstillinger. Men billetsalg, butik, garderobe og toiletter, som også er i denne bygning, er håbløst underdimensionerede, og der hænger en tung dunst af institutions-køkken over indgangsområdet, sikkert fra caféens køkken, der også ser meget indeklemt ud.

Parken er ikke særlig velholdt. Det er naturligvis en smagssag, hvor ofte græsset skal slås osv., men grusstierne i parken er nærmest livsfarlige at færdes på, da gruset mange steder er skyllet væk for længst, så man går rundt i stenede kløfter. Samtidskunst-skulpturer rundt om i parken.

Bortset fra i parken ser der ud til at være gode handicap-forhold med store elevatorer til de dybtliggende gallerier. Muligvis kan de stedvis let skrånende gulve i Zaha Hadid-fløjen være et problem for nogle.

Sikkert pga. fredningsforhold er parkeringsforholdene i skovbunden foran museet temmelig rustikke, og om vinteren kan det være noget af et mudderbad bare at nå frem.

Offentlig transport til museet er ikke helt god. Der går en bus mellem Lyngby Station og Klampenborg Station, som på hverdage kører hver halve time og har stoppested et par hundrede meter fra indgangen.

Både café og park kan besøges uden at købe billet til museet. Billetten til Ordrupgaard giver også adgang til Finn Juhls Hus, men bemærk at åbningstiderne til dette kan være kortere end til Ordrupgaard. I lavsæsonen har Finn Juhls Hus således kun åbent i weekenden.

Caféen er ikke anmeldt her; jeg har kun fået en kop kaffe engang. Finn Juhls Hus er heller...