The Collection

Art

The art collection comprises nearly 5,000 registered entries, some of which contain multiple works. It includes both nationally and regionally recognised artists such as Nina Bondeson, Thea Ekström, Tarik Kiswanson, Emelie Röndahl, David Svensson, Roj Friberg and Eva Wilms, along with artist collectives linked to specific places, including the Halmstad Group, the Varberg School, and the Hanhals and Söndrum colonies.

Sketches, illustrations and architectural drawings have not always been regarded as essential areas for art museums to collect. Today, however, they are valued as an important part of an artist’s practice. Torsten Billman is well represented in the collection through completed works, a large number of sketchbooks, illustrations and his personal library. The collection also includes the illustrators Kristina Digman and Lisa Bauer, as well as the garden designer Walter Bauer and architect David Helldén.

Photography

Hallands Konstmuseum holds an extensive photography collection representing various photographic styles. Today, the focus is primarily on art photography, with notable works by Lotta Antonsson, Ann Eringstam, Gerry Johansson and Eva Klasson. The collection also features two members of the collective Tio fotografer (Ten Photographers): Lennart Olson and Sven Gillsäter. Of particular note are artist Severin Nilson’s collection of glass plate negatives and Anders Kristensson’s series Traces of a Population.

The photography collection also includes a large number of cultural history photographs, mainly depicting the landscapes and people of Halland.

Design, Craft and Applied Art

Historically, museums have classified objects according to function, material, creator or place of origin. However, as the world has become increasingly complex, such boundaries have softened, and objects are now interpreted through a wide range of perspectives. Hallands Konstmuseums collections in design, craft and applied art encompass everything from pottery and folk art to industrial design. The museum holds one of Sweden’s largest collections of southern Swedish painted wall hangings (bonadsmålningar) – a body of work that can be viewed both as cultural artefacts and as expressions of period-specific colour and design.

Particularly notable is also the archive and collection of Halländska Hemslöjdsföreningen Bindslöjdens (the Halland Handicrafts Association Bindslöjden), which includes older examples of binge weaving, opphämta embroidery techniques and traditional folk costumes.

Individual designers such as Märta Måås-Fjetterström, Sylvia Stave and Britt-Marie Christoffersson are also represented. Christoffersson’s experimental knitted swatches, created for her three seminal books on knitting, continue to inspire creative innovation and admiration for their extraordinary craftsmanship.

Halländska Hemslöjdsföreningen Bindslöjdens collection – Digitalt museum

Archives and Library

Hallands Konstmuseums archive spans approximately 200 linear metres and contains material from the museum’s own activities, historical documents, and personal archives, including that of Halländska Hemslöjdsföreningen Bindslöjdens.

The museum also holds Konstnärsarkivet (the Artists’ Archive), comprising documents related primarily to artists with connections to Halland. Situationisterna (The Situationist group) at Drakabygget is one example; the Varberg-based Bildgalleriet is another.

Researchers can access the museum’s reference library, which is for on-site use only. The holdings are searchable via LIBRIS. In addition to the reference collection, the museum also preserves a number of rare and unique book volumes.

Artistic Interventions and Public Commissions

When the museum’s new and renovated premises were completed in 2019, art was given a prominent presence not only in the exhibition galleries, but also in the form of commissioned artistic interventions throughout the building. The museum is also behind several public artworks in the towns of Knäred (Laholm municipality), Getinge (Halmstad municipality), Unnaryd (Hylte municipality) and Kungsbacka.

Read more about the artistic interventions

History

The museum’s collection originated with Hallands Fornminnesförening (the Halland Antiquarian Society), founded in 1865. When the society was dissolved, its assets, collections and records were transferred in 1887 to the newly established Hallands Museiförening (the Halland Museum Society). At that time, the collection primarily consisted of cultural history objects with a connection to Halland, gradually supplemented by documents, literature and works of art.

In 1979, Hallands Museiförening became one of the founding members of Stiftelsen Hallands Länsmuseer (the Halland County Museums Foundation), to which it also transferred the collections. At the turn of the year 2010/2011, Region Halland was established, and the foundation’s responsibilities were clarified and divided between the two regional museums. This led to the formation of Hallands Konstmuseum in Halmstad and Hallands kulturhistoriska museum (the Halland Museum of Cultural History) in Varberg. This division is reflected in the museum’s current acquisitions and collections policy.

Read more about the organisation

Visitors can view a curated selection of the collection in the museum’s exhibitions. However, due to space limitations, a large proportion of the holdings are kept in storage. To make more works accessible to the public, the collection can also be explored online via Digitalt Museum.

Hallands Konstmuseum acquires new works annually from artists working in or with connections to Halland. The collection is expanded, deepened and contextualised through both strategic and complementary acquisitions. The museum currently manages three funds dedicated to acquisitions: the bequest funds Svea Larsons donationsfond, Lagergrens donationsfond and Makarna Bengtssons donationsfond.

Svea Larsons donationsfond

Svea Larson, who lived in Getinge, left her entire estate to the museum upon her death. Her bequest is a true treasure, allowing the museum to acquire art and craft from Halland for around two million SEK each year. Thanks to this fund, the museum is able to make regular additions to its collections and build a uniquely representative body of work with a distinct Halland character. It was the bequest fund Svea Larsons donationsfond that enabled the museum’s acquisition of Hallands Museiförenings (the Halland Art Association’s) collection in January 2003. Few museums in Sweden enjoy such generous means for acquisition.

Svea Larson (1907-1989)

Born in Getinge on 13 March 1907, Svea was ten months younger than her sister Birgit. Their parents, Karl Birger and Elin Larson, ran a drapery shop in the village and invested in shares, including in the Semb hydroelectric plant. The family was well-off, and both daughters attended the girls’ school in Halmstad. Karl Birger was a politically active conservative, holding several public offices, including chairman of the local council and the board of poor relief.
Svea and Birgit were close, despite being very different: Svea shy and reserved, Birgit lively and outgoing. They spent much time together and shared friends. In her twenties, Birgit contracted tuberculosis and died in 1942 after fifteen years of illness. During this period, the family focused on Birgit’s care, which included long sanatorium stays and medical treatment. This gradually bound Svea more tightly to the home and to her parents.

While her parents lived, they provided for Svea, who in turn helped run the shop and cared for them. She was emotionally dependent on her family; a friend once recalled that Svea was so indecisive she left a dressmaker’s with an unfinished dress, needing her mother’s opinion on the hemline.

In the early 1930s, her parents arranged for her to attend a rural domestic science school, but she found the work uninteresting and unsuitable. She later tried to continue the family business briefly in the 1950s but eventually turned her focus to social clubs, motoring, travel, and games – particularly card games. In the 1950s, she became interested in psychoanalytic literature and after her parents’ deaths in 1957, she bought a Steinway grand piano and began taking lessons. In the 1960s, she sold the family home and moved to a newly built townhouse in Halmstad.
Having no close heirs, and possessing a substantial – and wisely invested – fortune, Svea gave careful thought to her will. Letters to a friend mention several possible beneficiaries, including the Red Cross, Save the Children, and a youth library. In the end, she chose to donate her estate to Halland Museum (now Hallands Konstmuseum) for the acquisition of Halland-based art and craft.

Source: Article by Anneli Palmsköld in Halland 1998/99 (Yearbook published by Stiftelsen Hallands länsmuseer).

Lagergrens donationsfond

This fund was established by treasurer Axel Lagergren of Halmstad, son of one of the founders of the Hallands Museiförening. It is mainly used for acquiring cultural history objects. Notable purchases include a late 18th-century wall clock by Jeppe Hansson of Laholm, a silver communion set by Bernard Halck of Halmstad, and a drawing of folk life in Tivoli Park by Severin Nilson from the late 19th century.

Makarna Bengtssons donationsfond

In 1999, John and Margareta Bengtsson donated their entire estate to the museum to create a fund for acquiring museum objects. John Bengtsson was a devoted collector of antiques, particularly silver, and together the couple created a beautiful home. Their collection was meticulously catalogued and numbered, as in a museum. Some pieces were accessioned into the collection, such as a longcase clock from Torup made by Carl Nilsson (1787–1850) in Släthult, Jönköping. The fund’s returns have been used to acquire, for example, a folk-painted cabinet from the Tygared cottage in Knäred and a silver soup ladle from Laholm with provenance from Skottorp Castle.

Lennart Olson was active as a photographer from a young age, working in both documentary and artistic photography. In 1950s Paris, he encountered abstract art and became close to artists such as Olle Bærtling and Pontus Hultén. He was inspired to develop abstract photography and helped establish the genre in Sweden.

In 1958, he co-founded the photo agency Tio fotografer with nine other Swedish photographers: Sten Didrik Bellander, Harry Dittmer, Sven Gillsäter, Hans Hammarskiöld, Rune Hassner, Tore Johnson, Hans Malmberg, Pål-Nils Nilsson and Georg Oddner. Olson’s bridge photographs from Italy, portraits of cultural figures and technical experiments have been exhibited around the world. Prestigious venues include the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York, where four of his works are held in the collection. Olson lived in Steninge, Halmstad.

His collection, the museum’s largest in photography, includes negatives, prints, mounted photographs, several films, archival documents and his personal library.

Since 2011, Hallands Konstmuseum holds the copyright to his works. Image orders may be placed via the museum.

Olle Bærtling was born in Halmstad in 1911 but moved to Stockholm at the age of 18 to work in banking. He began painting in the 1930s and later studied in Paris. Through the Galerie Denise René, he was introduced to abstract art in the 1950s. Today, he is known for his colourful paintings featuring triangular fields and his slender, black linear sculptures.

In addition to its own works by Bærtling, Hallands Konstmuseum has housed Bærtlingsiftelsens (the Bærtling Foundation’s) collection – comprising around 300 works – since 2018. Together with Halmstad University and Halmstad Municipality, the museum also oversees the art in the Bærtling Quarter adjacent to the university, where many sculptures are on permanent public display.

Hallands Konstmuseum regularly lends artworks to other institutions. Requests can be made via email to info@hallandskonstmuseum.se or directed to the Head of Exhibitions and Collections.