Lars Nittve

Lars Nittve was born in Stockholm in 1953.[7] He studied at the Stockholm School of Economics, and obtained an M.A. at Stockholm University.[1] He also pursued postgraduate studies at New York University.[1] In 2009, Nittve earned a PhD, HC, from the Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden.[8]

In 1978 to 1985, Nittve served as lecturer in art history at the Stockholm University.[9] During the same period he has been Senior Art Critic for the Swedish daily newspaper Svenska Dagbladet, Stockholm,[10] and contributed regularly to Artforum, New York City.[11]

From 1986 Nittve was appointed Chief Curator at the Moderna Museet in Stockholm,[3] where he curated a large number of high-profile exhibitions – both monographic and thematic, among them "Walter De Maria",[12] "Kandinsky and Sweden", "Hilma af Klint" [13] and the seminal "Implosion – a Postmodern Perspective".[14][15] From 1990 to 1995, he served as the founding Director of Rooseum – Center for Contemporary Art – in Malmö, Sweden,[4] where he organized the whole exhibition program, including surveys of "Susan Rothenberg",[16] "Allan McCollum",[17][18] "Sherrie Levine" [19] and "Andreas Gursky".[20] In July 1995, Nittve became Director of the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art in Humlebaek, Denmark,[5] where he also curated the groundbreaking exhibition "Sunshine & Noir – Art in L.A. 1960–1997".[21] In the spring of 1998, he was named the first Director of Tate Modern, London, which opened in May 2000 to great acclaim.[22]

In 2001, he took up his post as Director of Moderna Museet, the national Museum of Modern Art in Stockholm.[23] He co-curated the thematic exhibition Fashination in 2004 about the dialogue between art and fashion in the last ten years.[24] Other exhibitions include "Time and Place: Los Angeles 1957–1968" (2008);[25] "Anthony McCall" (2009)[26] and most recently "Ed Ruscha: Fifty Years of Painting" (2010).[27] During his time at the Moderna Museet, Nittve was instrumental in the fundraising effort (70 million USD) that strengthened the collection and oversaw the expansion of the institution – including The Second Museum of Our Wishes, which focuses on bringing more works by women artists into the collection,[28][29] the creation of the innovative Renzo Piano designed Pontus Hultén Study Gallery (opened in May 2008),[30] The American Friends of the Moderna Museet Inc. and the opening of Moderna Museet Malmö in 2009.[31]

At the end of 2010, Nittve left his post as Director of the Moderna Museet after having served the maximum length of nine years anyone is permitted to hold the post.[32][33]

From 2011-2016, Nittve was Executive Director of the M+ museum in the West Kowloon Cultural District in Hong Kong.[34][35][36]

Lars Nittve has served on the jury of numerous international prizes[37][38][39] and has been on the board of a large number of international art organizations.[13] He is a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Fine Art.[13]

In 2009 he was awarded a Ph.D. H.C by Umeå University, Sweden, where he is also Professor in Art History since 2010.[8]

In 2010, Nittve was awarded H. M. The King's Medal in gold, 12th size in the Order of the Serafim’s ribbon.[40]

Nittve is the author of several publications on art, as well as articles in journals and catalogues in Sweden and abroad.[41]

In 2013 he was ranked at number 73 in ArtReview Magazine's annual Power 100[42]

• Exhibition of the Modern Museum, Stockholm
• Interview with Lars Nittve (swedish)
• Lars Nittve, Lars Nittve on a swedish radiointerview (2002-07-07)