Stockholm's museums – Nationalmuseum, Moderna Museet and Fotografiska

Three museums by the water tell three different stories about Stockholm: Nationalmuseum on Blasieholmen with 700,000 objects, Moderna Museet on Skeppsholmen, and Fotografiska in a customs house from 1906. Here is the guide to art in Stockholm.

Stockholm's great art museums are all situated by the water, and this says something about the city. From Nationalmuseum on Blasieholmen you look out across Strömmen towards the Royal Palace, from Moderna Museet on Skeppsholmen across Saltsjön, and from Fotografiska at Stadsgården towards Djurgården. Together they span six centuries of art – from Rembrandt to contemporary photography.

Nationalmuseum – Blasieholmen's palace of art

Nationalmuseum was founded in 1792 as the Royal Museum. The current building on Blasieholmen was designed by the German architect Friedrich August Stüler, with interiors by Fredrik Wilhelm Scholander, and opened in 1866, when the museum received its current name. In February 2013, the building began to be emptied ahead of a renovation, and on 13 October 2018 it reopened.

The collections comprise around 700,000 objects, of which around 500,000 are drawings, and the museum has the world's largest collection of portrait miniatures with over 5,200 works, according to Wikipedia. Among the works are paintings by Rembrandt, Watteau, Gauguin, Cézanne and Anders Zorn.

Moderna Museet – Skeppsholmen since 1958

Moderna Museet opened on 9 May 1958 in the old drill hall on Skeppsholmen, as a separate institution distinct from Nationalmuseum, where modern art had previously been exhibited. Under the directors Pontus Hultén and Olle Granath, the museum grew to become one of Sweden's foremost. The current building was designed by the Spanish architect Rafael Moneo and opened in 1998; following mould damage, it reopened on 14 February 2004.

The museum has a criminal history of its own. On the night of 8 November 1993, thieves broke in through the roof and stole works by Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque worth almost SEK 500 million. Most of them were recovered, but Braque's Still Life from 1928 is still missing. Outside the museum lies a sculpture park with works by, among others, Alexander Calder and Niki de Saint Phalle. In 2023, Moderna Museet had 385,000 visitors.

Fotografiska – photography in the old customs house

Fotografiska was founded on 20 May 2010 by the entrepreneurs Jan and Per Broman and was inaugurated with Annie Leibovitz's A Photographer's Life 1990–2005. The museum is located in the Stora Tullhuset customs house in Stadsgårdshamnen, built 1906–1910 to designs by Ferdinand Boberg. Since its opening, the museum has exhibited the work of, among others, Anton Corbijn, Robert Mapplethorpe, Sarah Moon and Christer Strömholm, and today Fotografiska is a network with venues also in Tallinn, Berlin and Shanghai.

The museum's restaurant works with sustainable gastronomy and received a Green MICHELIN Star in 2020. The view over the inlet towards Djurgården is among the best in the city.

How to plan your museum day

Nationalmuseum and Moderna Museet are a few minutes' walk from each other, across Skeppsholmsbron. Fotografiska is on Södermalm and can be reached with a walk along Skeppsbron and Slussen. On a rainy day, you'll find more tips in Rainy day in Stockholm in My Stockholm. See the neighbourhoods in VERA PI's street files for Blasieholmstorg and Skeppsbron, and the district Södermalm.

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