By: Chris ⎜ Last updated
Henie Onstad Kunstsenter sits on a headland poking into the Oslofjord, about 15 minutes west of the city by car. It's a modern and contemporary art museum with a permanent Kusama infinity room, a sculpture park that stretches into the forest and down to the water, and a public beach where you can swim on a warm day. If you know Louisiana outside Copenhagen, the appeal is similar: art and landscape in one trip, although Henie Onstad is smaller and quieter.
Olympic figure skating champion Sonja Henie and her husband Niels Onstad founded the centre in 1968 and donated their private art collection to get it started. Picasso, Matisse, works from the Fluxus and CoBrA movements. The collection has grown to more than 8,000 works since then.
Should you go?
If you've already done MUNCH and the National Museum, and if the weather is good enough so that you can explore the outdoors sculpture park, this is the place. Otherwise, you should first prioritise MUNCH or the National Museum. They're bigger, more central and more comprehensive.
Henie Onstad is noticeably smaller than those two. On a quiet month between major temporary exhibitions, the indoor galleries take an hour, maybe 90 minutes. The sculpture park, coastal path and beach can turn it into a half-day outing. Check the current programme before you go. Temporary exhibitions can make a difference to how long you'll want to spend indoors.
The Oslo Pass covers both admission and the bus ride out to Høvikodden (zone 2), so if you have one, the trip costs nothing extra.
What to see inside
Kusama's Hymn of Life
This is the highlight. Go here first. Hymn of Life is a walk-in room of mirrors and slowly pulsating coloured lights. The walls and floor are all mirrored, so the room feels infinite. Kusama created it for HOK's 2016 exhibition and it became a permanent installation in 2018. Unlike the Kusama shows in London or Tokyo where you queue for a timed slot, here you can often walk straight in outside of summer weekends. Ask at reception when you arrive.
Sal Merz
A gallery designed by Snøhetta, opened in 2021, showing the work of Kurt Schwitters and related avant-garde movements. If you don't know Schwitters: he's the artist who decided that torn bus tickets and scraps of newspaper could be art. The permanent exhibition Merz! Flux! Pop! is compact, maybe 20 to 30 minutes.
Sonja Henie's prizes and career
A room full of Olympic gold medals, World Championship trophies, costumes and film memorabilia. Henie won her first Olympic medal at 15, went on to win ten consecutive World Championships, then moved to Hollywood. The volume of gold on display is ridiculous. Don't skip this even if figure skating means nothing to you.
Temporary exhibitions
The programme rotates several times a year. Photography, video art, painting, installations, soundscapes. Between major exhibitions, the permanent rooms (Kusama, Sal Merz, Sonja Henie) are enough to justify the trip, but a strong temporary exhibition can be a draw in itself.
The peninsula
Sculpture park – free, no ticket needed
More than 30 sculptures spread across 140 acres of park, forest and shoreline. They're scattered through a real landscape, not lined up in a courtyard. Grab a map from the lobby. Arnold Haukeland's Solskulptur towers at the entrance, commissioned by Niels Onstad after Sonja Henie's death. A Henry Moore stands further into the park. The strangest piece is the Filipstadbananen, a giant commercial banana from the 1950s that (according to HOK) helped inspire Claes Oldenburg's take on Pop Art. Allow 30 to 45 minutes in decent weather.
The kyststien (coastal path)
The coastal path runs in both directions from Høvikodden: towards Veritasparken and old Høvik Verk one way, towards Solvikbukta the other. Flat, mostly gravel, benches along the way. This is where locals walk on weekends, it's not a tourist trail. You can see several of the sculpture park's works from the path without going through the museum.
Food
Don't eat here. Høvikodden Kafé has maybe the best location of any museum café in the Oslo area. Fjord views, outdoor terrace, a beautiful setting. Unfortunately the food and service doesn't match it. The baked goods are hit-or-miss, sandwiches may take a long time to appear, and the prices are steep for what you get. Muffins can be stale and the staff seem like they'd rather be somewhere else.