Copenhagen has always rewarded the attentive visitor. The city's art scene runs deeper than its most famous addresses suggest, with a network of independent spaces, underrated institutions, and historic collections sitting quietly alongside the major museums. This summer, there's a particularly strong lineup across the board. Here's where to spend your time.

_{Hirschsprung Collection Exterior, Courtesy of Hirschsprung Collection}

Hirschsprung Collection | Stockholmsgade 20

The Hirschsprung is one of Copenhagen's most rewarding institutions, and one of its most underappreciated. The permanent collection spans 19th-century Danish masterworks that offer a rich picture of the country's golden age and set the stage for the contemporary art you'll encounter throughout the rest of the city.

This summer, the Hirschsprung is also showing the first ever monographic exhibition dedicated to Swedish painter Hanna Hirsch Pauli (1864–1940). Best known for her portraits and genre scenes, Hirsch Pauli trained at the Royal Swedish Academy of Arts before studying in Paris, where her work was accepted to the 1887 Salon. She was a central figure in the Nordic art world of her time, and yet much of her output has remained largely unknown to wider audiences. The Art of Being Free aims to change that. On view through 16 August.

_{The Apartment, May 2024, Courtesy of Tina Seidenfaden Busck} 

The Apartment by Tina Seidenfaden Busck | Overgaden Neden Vandet 33

Not many places in Copenhagen feel quite like this. Designer and collector Tina Seidenfaden Busck opened The Apartment in 2011 as a space to showcase her curatorial eye. It occupies an entire floor of a restored 18th-century building where Busck also lives, and it looks exactly like that sounds. Works by Olafur Eliasson, Barry McGee, and others sit among furniture and objects as if they've always been there.

What makes The Apartment worth visiting isn't just the artists on the walls. It's the approach. The space is designed to look lived in, which makes the work feel different than it does in a white cube. It's a reminder of what collecting, at its best, actually looks like. Open Tuesdays and Thursdays only, so be sure to plan ahead.

_{©Louisiana - Museum of Modern Art}

Louisiana Museum of Modern Art | Gammel Strandvej 13, 3050 Humlebæk

One of Europe's great museums, full stop. The Louisiana sits on the shore of the Øresund Sound, about 40 minutes from central Copenhagen, and the setting alone is worth the journey. The sculpture garden with works by Jean Arp, Alexander Calder, Henry Moore, and others, has one of the most breathtaking backdrops of any outdoor collection anywhere. Inside, a dedicated Giacometti gallery and a permanent Kusama installation anchor a permanent collection that consistently punches above its weight.

This summer's programming is exceptional. A Lucian Freud retrospective focuses on drawing across all its forms, from his youth in the 1930s through to the end of his career, while a Sophie Calle survey captures her singular blend of fact and fiction, intimacy and cool. The two shows together make for a particularly rich afternoon. The museum restaurant overlooks the sound, making for a good reason to time your visit around lunch. Freud runs 11 June through 27 September; Calle closes 23 August.

_{Statens Museum for Kunst, Photo by Jiří Komárek} 

Statens Museum for Kunst (SMK) | Solvgade 48-50

SMK is Denmark's National Gallery and the largest art museum in the country. The permanent collection is vast, and the Matisse holdings alone are worth the visit. But this spring, the reason to go is Anna Thommesen. A self-taught Danish textile artist who lived from 1908 to 2004, Thommesen set aside her brushes around 1940 in favour of the loom and spent the next five decades weaving a body of work that stands as one of the most significant contributions to Danish modernist art. Her name is not widely known — yet.  Which is precisely why this exhibition matters.

Weavings presents more than 40 handwoven tapestries alongside the decorative commissions she created for spaces like Roskilde Cathedral and the Landsting Chamber at Christiansborg, plus pattern drawings, watercolour sketches, and original colour samples that reveal the depth of her process. She dyed her own yarns, often using plants she collected herself, and her abstract compositions grew directly out of her observations of the natural world. It is the most comprehensive exhibition of her work ever mounted. On view through 16 August.

_{Photo by Kunsthal Charlottenborg}

Kunsthal Charlottenborg | Nyhavn 2

The official exhibition space of the Royal Danish Academy of Art occupies an opulent Baroque structure built in 1672–83 at the end of Nyhavn. The building is a destination in its own right, but the programming has been strong enough this year to hold its own against it.

This summer, Polish artist and activist Małgorzata Mirga-Tas brings her first solo exhibition in Denmark to Charlottenborg. Working in vibrant textile collages, she brings Roma culture into focus with work that highlights community, heritage, and women's lives. The pieces are visually arresting and politically precise in equal measure. Mirga-Tas was one of the standout voices of the 2022 Venice Biennale, and this show is a long overdue introduction for Danish audiences. On view through 16 August.

_{Photo Courtesy of the David Collection}

The David Collection | Kronprinsessegade 30

One of Copenhagen's most underrated institutions, the David Collection is housed in the building once occupied by its founder, the prominent lawyer C. L. David. The permanent collection is wide-ranging and beautifully presented, the kind of place you can return to repeatedly and always find something new.

This summer's special exhibition revisits the travels of Danish painter Martinus Rørbye (1803–1848) and architect Gottlieb Bindesbøll (1800–1856), who met in Italy around 190 years ago and went on to document the people, folk life, and architecture they encountered on the road to Constantinople. The sketches and drawings they produced on that journey are intimate and vivid, and the show serves as a quiet reminder of how much the Grand Tour shaped the artistic imagination of 19th-century Scandinavia. The Journey to Constantinople closes 23 August.

_{The Grand Hall, Thorvaldsens Museum. Courtesy of Thorvaldsens Museum.}

Thorvaldsens Museum | Bertel Thorvaldsens Plads 2

Opened in 1848, this was the first public museum in Denmark, built specifically to hold the life's work of sculptor Bertel Thorvaldsen alongside his personal collection. The neoclassical building is remarkable, and the collection inside lives up to it. Take your time here. The trompe l'oeil floor mosaics in the side walkways are worth slowing down for, and the quiet courtyard is one of the better spots in the city to sit with a coffee after a morning of looking.

There are no temporary exhibitions to flag here as the permanent collection is the point. Thorvaldsen was one of the most celebrated sculptors of the 19th century, and the museum dedicated to him is genuinely singular. It's the kind of place that rewards visitors who aren't in a rush.

_{Photo Courtesy Overgaden  ©Anders Sune Berg}

Overgaden | Overgaden Neden Vandet 17

Established in 1986 and independently operated, Overgaden is one of the most experimental venues for contemporary art in Copenhagen, and a necessary counterweight to the city's larger institutions. The programming is consistently ambitious, and the space itself has a character that few galleries in the city can match.

The current solo show by Morten Knudsen is raw and sobering. His paintings circle around grief and loss through thick impasto, dark palettes, and flower-laden landscapes that feel simultaneously romantic and invasive. Recurring spiral motifs and sparse voids honour his son's brief life with a restraint that makes the work more affecting, not less. This is his first major institutional solo exhibition. On view through 2 August.

_{Copenhagen Contemporary Exterior, courtesy of Copenhagen Contemporary}

Copenhagen Contemporary | Refshalevej 173A

One of the largest exhibition venues in Scandinavia, Copenhagen Contemporary sits on Refshaleøen, the former industrial island that has become one of the more interesting parts of the city to spend time in. Before you look at anything else, find the permanent James Turrell Skyspace, Aftershock. It's worth the trip on its own.

This summer's main draw is Camille Henrot's largest solo exhibition in Scandinavia to date. Paper Planes brings together large-scale installations spanning the past decade of her practice alongside the Scandinavian premiere of her new film In the Veins, which has already drawn serious critical attention internationally. Running alongside it, Shapeshifters Magic in Fashion presents 11 Nordic designers and artists working at the intersection of fashion, art, and performance. Henrot closes 31 December; Shapeshifters closes 6 September.