Ystad skulpturpark

The theatre house with its typical 19th century façade in classicist style was designed by Ystad’s first city architect Peter Boisen in 1892 after a model in Leipzig. Since its inauguration in 1894, the theatre has been the pride of Ystad and is also loved by all the different artists who perform there. A representative garden with gravel paths was laid out in front of the theatre.

Peter Boisen (1838–1908) was a Danish architect who designed and designed many public buildings and homes in Ystad and Skåne during his career. Some examples in Ystad are Sorgenfri, Ystad Theatre, Ystad customs house, Ystad market hall, Ystad salt lake bath and many private villas. This was during an expansive period in Ystad. Peter Boisen was Ystad’s first city architect from 1868–1908. According to architectural historian Anna-Maria Blennow, he “clearly intended to replace the old-fashioned half-timbered buildings with houses in solid brickwork. He wanted to create a stone city and raise its status through a number of beautiful and monumental buildings”. Through his work, Peter Boisen became the first in the line of city architects who designed buildings and had an impact on the planning of the urban environment in Ystad.

The private individual Nils Magnus Lilja, Ystad/Spain, has, through a donation of a work of art, wished that the memory of Peter Boisen’s work for Ystad should be manifested. The work of art is a gift to the municipality of Ystad and has been placed on Peter Boisen’s place northeast of Ystad Theatre. Peter Boisen has been portrayed in bronze sitting on a couch and with symbolic bricks. The work of art is placed on a plinth of bricks. These were reused from a wall in Fritidsparken and are fittingly in classic Danish brick format. This also serves as a connection to Peter Boisen’s Danish background.

The artwork, In Memory of City Architect Peter Boisen, is created by the Spanish artist José Maria Cordoba (1950–). After studying art in Seville, he worked with painting, drawing and sculpture and has had exhibitions in Paris, Amsterdam, Berlin and the Nordic countries, among others. He has been a professor of drawing in Seville since 1979.