Oluf Høst Museum

Selsø is situated at an elevation of 19 meters.

• Name — Oluf Høst Museum • Native Name — Oluf Høst Museet • Established — 1998 • Location — Norresân, Gudhjem's north harbour on Baltic Sea, Bornholm, Denmark • Type — Art Gallery • Collection Size — Paintings of Oluf Høst • Website — ohmus.dk

Oluf Høst was the only native Bornholmer among the artists who constituted the Bornholm school of painters. Inspired by the island's unique landscapes and light, he developed a distinctive style of classic modernism. Although Høst had studied in Copenhagen, he returned to Bornholm in 1929 for the rest of his life. Bognemark, a little farmhouse near Gudhjem was one of Høst's favourite motifs as was the tiny smokehouse at nearby Nørresand Harbour. From 1935 on, he painted the farm some 200 times under varying conditions at different times of year, often in accordance with his particular mood at the time; though inspired by Cézanne, his paintings were distinctly Scandinavian in "his depiction of lights and moods." His lights were sunsets, twilight or moonlit nights and scenery often with summer bathers or wintry sea views in the Nordic tradition. The museum opened in June 1998.

The museum is located in a large house, known as Norresân, named after the nearby harbour, Nørresand Havn, at the western end of Gudhjem. Occupying a site where two fishermen's homes once stood, it was Høst's home from 1929 until his death in 1966. The building was converted into a museum with three studios: one in the house, the second in the rocky garden, and the third in the grounds behind the building. Høst painted many of his works in the steep garden behind the house from where there are views over the rocky outcrop known as Bokul. His summer studio at the top of the garden is where he painted his famous designs from 1920 to 1960.