National Museum of Norway

Overview

The National Museum of Norway (Norwegian: Nasjonalmuseet – Kunst- og forskningsbiblioteket) is a specialist library and archival unit of the National Museum of Art, Architecture and Design (Nasjonalmuseet), located in Oslo, Norway. It manages an extensive collection of art-historical literature and unique archival materials related to Norwegian art, the museum's holdings, and the institutional history of the organizations that merged to form the National Museum.

History and Founding

The National Museum was formally established in 2003 by merging five institutions: the National Gallery (founded 1837), the Museum of Decorative Arts and Design (founded 1876), the Museum of Contemporary Art (founded 1988), the Museum of Architecture (founded 1975), and National Touring Exhibitions Norway (founded 1996). The Research Library likewise dates from 2003, combining book collections from all five predecessor institutions. The oldest portions of the library collection date to 1882, when the National Gallery library and the Museum of Decorative Arts and Design library were both established.

From 1882 to 1924, the National Gallery library belonged to the Collection of Engravings and Drawings, which had been collecting foreign journals, reproductions, photographs and art-historical literature since around 1880. The Henie Onstad collection, comprising more than 30,000 books and catalogues, was later incorporated and helped fill gaps in holdings from the 1960s–1980s. The documentation archive was initiated in 1978 to support work on the Norsk kunstlerleksikon (Encyclopedia of Norwegian Artists). In 2022, the National Museum opened its new purpose-built building at Vestbanehallen in central Oslo, which includes an integrated library facility accessible from Dronning Mauds gate 2.

Collections and Holdings

The library and archive manages art-historical literature, exhibition catalogues, periodicals, and unique archival material. The archival collections include private archives of architects and designers, institutional records from the predecessor museums, and documentation materials supporting research on Norwegian art history. The broader National Museum collection totals over 400,000 works, including Norway's most important architecture collection of more than 300,000 items, as well as the first version of Edvard Munch's The Scream (1893).

Access and Usage

The Research Library is accessed from Dronning Mauds gate 2 in Oslo. The library serves researchers, students, and the general public. An online catalogue allows users to search holdings remotely.