Sweden’s capital is home to at least three major must-see attractions. The breathtaking Vasa Museum, which is reason alone to come to the city, showcases a massive warship that sank in Stockholm’s harbor on its maiden voyage in 1628 and was salvaged more than three centuries later. At Skansen, visitors can go back in time through a re-created Swedish village, composed of period buildings from around the country. And the Nationalmuseum is a treasure trove of paintings, sculpture and design spanning centuries, with collections that run from the Renaissance to the present day.

But these famous museums can also be crowded, especially during the peak tourist season. On this trip, I decided to focus on Stockholm’s lesser-known art-and-design destinations.

Artipelag

About 30 minutes’ drive east of central Stockholm, Artipelag is a contemporary art space atop a promontory on the island of Värmdö. Opened in June 2012, the museum sits in an extraordinary natural landscape and blurs the boundary between indoors and out, with massive glacial rocks incorporated into the lobby design.

It was too rainy to explore the outdoor sculpture garden, so we headed inside to see two temporary exhibitions, including Thai-Belgian artist Apichaya Wanthiang’s show, which incorporated light, film and moving fabric to create an immersive visual experience that evoked the natural world. In an adjacent gallery, dozens of tiny bronze statues by Swedish artist Fredrik Wretman sat atop white plinths, a miniature army of whimsical, mythical creatures set against a backdrop of the forest leading down to the sea.

Call a taxi for the ride out to Artipelag, or make it a stop on a private archipelago tour — the museum has a guest marina where boats can tie up for free.

Artipelag
Artipelagstigen 1. Tel. (46) 8-57-01-30-00

Liljevalchs

Despite being adjacent to the popular ABBA museum, Liljevalchs is difficult to find (enter at Falkenbergsgatan 3, just off Djurgårdsvägen). The gallery has no permanent collection; when we visited, the show was When We See Us: A Century of Black Figuration in Painting, an ambitious exhibition organized by the Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa in Cape Town. It brought together more than 100 works by Black artists from around the world, spanning a century of painting. There were pieces by household names such as Amy Sherald and Kehinde Wiley alongside artists who were completely new to me.

As we chatted with a docent, I learned about the museum’s annual juried salon, open to any adult living in Sweden. The result is an eclectic exhibition that brings together both established and emerging artists, and it sounds like an excellent reason to return.

Liljevalchs
Djurgårdsvägen 60. Tel. (46) 8-50-83-13-30

Carl Eldhs Ateljémuseum

We also discovered an underrated institution dedicated mostly to modern art. Sculptor Carl Eldh’s works can be found in galleries and public spaces throughout Sweden, and his former studio in Bellevue Park has been preserved almost exactly as it was while he was alive. We loved walking through the light-filled space, where figurative sculptures, tools and raw materials remain alongside each other, creating a sense of what it must have been like when Eldh was actually working there.

But the museum looks forward, too. This past summer, it showcased contemporary sculptures by Swedish-Iranian artist Samaneh Reyhani, with the flamelike works thoughtfully placed around the studio and living area.

Carl Eldhs Ateljémuseum
Lögebodavägen 10. Tel. (46) 8-61-26-560