Image: Nordic Watercolour Museum, Skärhamn
Nordiska Akvarellmuseet in Skärhamn is preparing a summer 2026 programme that combines a major exhibition with workshops, guided listening and focused presentations from the museum’s collection. The season runs from 10 May to 6 September 2026, with the museum open daily from 11 am to 5 pm.
At the centre of the summer is ‘Asger Jorn & Per Kirkeby’, an extensive presentation of two of Denmark’s most significant postwar artists. According to the museum, the exhibition explores how Jorn and Kirkeby, working in different but related ways, united intellectual clarity with emotional intensity in their image-making during a period of major change. Although they belong to different generations, their work is presented as sharing an interest in painting’s pursuit of its own inner magic. By focusing on watercolour and drawing, Nordiska Akvarellmuseet is highlighting experimental aspects of both artists’ practices. The exhibition is on view from 10 May to 6 September 2026.
Alongside the main exhibition, the museum will show a selection from its own collection in a gallery at the back of the building. The display is described as a reflection of the museum’s history and a snapshot of the development of watercolour art, drawn from ongoing acquisitions of Nordic contemporary artists, often linked to exhibitions. Artists listed for this presentation include Line Bergseth, Cecilia Edefalk, Kati Immonen, Bernd Koberling, Michael Kvium, Peter Köhler, Peter Land, Elina Merenmies, Julie Nord, Maria Nordin, Eggert Pétursson, Fredrik Söderberg, Johan Thurfjell, Gunnel Wåhlstrand and Christine Ödlund.
A separate summer display in the museum’s Samlingssal is dedicated to Lars Lerin. The museum says his watercolours, with their masterful chiaroscuro, move between house facades, birch trunks, snow patches, abandoned farmsteads and industrial cities, while also bringing together the cold of Lofoten, the warmth of India and the forests of his childhood in Värmland. Works by Lerin have been in the museum’s collection for many years, and several will be shown publicly during summer 2026.
The museum is also introducing a new version of its experience guide for the season. The audio guide will be presented in a new form and will offer five sound tracks with suggestions for methods to try and questions to explore while encountering the works. Visitors will find the guide on the museum’s website.
Among the scheduled summer programmes is the course ‘Måleriprocesser: Från kontroll till experiment’ with the artist Alexandra Walsh, held at Nordiska Akvarellmuseet from 20 to 23 August. The museum describes Walsh as known for using chemistry and physics to manipulate watercolour paint in innovative ways, and says the course explores painting as a range of processes rather than a single method. The summer programme also includes a workshop with SMHI during Västerhavsveckan on 4 August, ‘UngKonst’ for ages 13 to 18 from 11 to 13 August, ‘Prata/Skapa’ on 27 August, and ‘Skatter & Skräp / Bytardag på museet’ on 29 August.
