Picasso in Kristinehamn

Picasso made a series of small sheet-metal models in the early 1960s that were meant to be enlarged, and the Norwegian artist Carl Nesjar worked out how to build them in sandblasted concrete. One of those enlargements stands here: about fifteen metres high, a female head with the features cut and folded rather than modelled, facing the water. Picasso approved the site from photographs and never came. It was raised in 1965 on a point on Lake Vanern outside Kristinehamn, on open grass with the lake behind, and the surroundings have deliberately been kept plain - grass, rock and water, with a path round it and a small cafe in season.

What to look for

• A concrete head fifteen metres high - from a Picasso maquette.
• Sandblasted concrete construction - Carl Nesjar's technique.
• A plain lakeside setting - grass, rock and water.
• Raised in 1965 - approved by the artist from photographs.

When to go

May to September; the cafe is seasonal. An hour.

Before you go

It is one object in a field - the visit is short. The site is exposed with no shelter. Facilities are seasonal. You need a car to get out there.

Nearby

Kristinehamn is inland; Lake Vanern spreads west.