Cairn, 2018

Rose B. Simpson

Desirée Blomberg, Head of Exhibition and Collection Management, shares the journey of how an artwork finds its place in the collection.

Desirée Blomberg: My name is Desirée Blomberg. I lead a team of six colleagues who work with exhibition and collection Management here at the museum. I would like to tell you about how an artwork makes its way into the Moderna Museet collection, and how Rose B. Simpson’s sculpture Cairn found its way here.

Over the past three years, the museum has acquired an average of 206 works each year. In 2020, the number rose to 488, largely thanks to a government initiative to support contemporary Swedish art during the pandemic.

Acquisition decisions are made by the museum’s curators for the collection, together with the chief curator and, ultimately, the museum director. They meet five to seven times a year. The Collection Manager gathers all proposals, chairs the meetings, and records the decisions. Every acquisition is guided by the museum’s acquisition policy, based on our mandate: to collect art of the 20th and 21st centuries in all its forms.

Acquisitions may come through purchase, donation, or transfers from other state museums. Once a decision has been made, a long process begins. The Collection Manager informs technicians and conservators, contacts the artist, seller, or donor, and gathers crucial details: dimensions, materials, handling instructions, installation manuals, and more. Everything is registered in our collection database. The more complete the information, the easier it becomes to display the work or lend it safely.

Loans from the museum are always handled with great care. We prioritize exhibitions that bring new perspectives, reach new audiences, and foster collaboration with other institutions that are potential lenders to Moderna Museet’s future exhibitions. This ensures that the collection remains alive and relevant.

Sometimes the process is simple, as with a small painting. But a work may also consist of hundreds of parts in different materials, packed in large crates weighing several hundred kilos. We work with specialized fine art shippers, who often assist with packing as well as transport.

Rose B. Simpson’s Cairn is made of patinated and painted bronze and is highly sensitive to touch. The sculpture is lifted with a crane from its custom-built upright crate, using a padded sling placed around the child figure’s arms. The same method was used when the work was packed in New York before its journey to Stockholm.

The size of the crate determines the route. Smaller crates can be flown directly to Stockholm Arlanda Airport. Larger ones must travel via major European airports, on either passenger or cargo flights, and are then transported by truck to Stockholm. Sea freight is sometimes used as well. We always strive to consolidate shipments, both for environmental reasons and to reduce costs.

This has been a glimpse behind the scenes at all that takes place before an artwork finds its place in the Moderna Museet collection. So, the next time you encounter a work in our galleries, you might think of all the care—and all the hands—that brought it here.