Rasmus Meyer´s Collection

Rasmus Meyer passed away in 1916. His children then donated their father’s collection of art and historical furniture to the city of Bergen.

Meyer's dream was a public building where the works of art could be exhibited for a larger audience. Today, as part of Kode, the donation comprises one of the finest collections of art from the Norwegian "golden age" (1880–1905).

The beautiful museum building enables you to have a delightful wander through historical interiors from Bergen while exploring the art.

Highlights from "the Golden Age"

Across two floors, you wander through the golden age of Norwegian art history, from 1880 to 1905 and onwards to 1920. We show works by artists like J.C. Dahl, Hans Gude, Harriet Backer, Christian Krohg, Kitty Kielland, Nikolai Astrup and Erik Werenskiold, as well as Norwegian Matisse students Henrik Sørensen and Jean Heiberg.

We also show historic Bergen interiors in the elegant Blumentahl room with its wall and ceiling paintings from around 1760 covering the entire room.

The Munch Collection in Bergen

Today, Kode and Bergen are home to the world’s third largest Edvard Munch collection.

In the collection you find major works from all periods of Munch’s artistic career. Among the highlights are “Jealousy”, “Melancholy”, “Woman in Three Stages” and “Evening on Karl Johan Street”.

In the Munch exhibition at Kode you'll meet the young painter trying to find his own visual language, including the first painting to clearly point towards the Munch we recognise most. "Inger on the Shore" (1889) is known as the painting through which ‘Munch becomes Munch’. Instead of painting an external presentation of his sister Inger, he decides to delve into her emotional life.

You also meet Munch the Modern artist. Self-assured, he launches into his great project, the "Frieze of Life", which is a poetic cycle on "Life, love and death".

At last we meet an artist standing at a crossroad, and the theme shifts from inner darkness to external light. You'll see a mature man who has struggled with his own demons but moves on, both personally and as an artist.

The Bergen Munch collection consists of more than 100 works on paper and 50 paintings, of which most are from Rasmus Meyer’s collections. Meyer was among the first distinguished collectors of Munch’s art.