By Dean Gregory, to Museum Spotlight Europe (May 2023)
Located in the suburb of Riehen, Switzerland, Fondation Beyeler stands as a testament to a life dedicated to art, culture, and bettering mankind. Founded by Ernst Beyeler, Fondation Beyeler is only one of many projects that attract art appreciators to Switzerland. For example, in the neighboring city of Basel, the international art fair, Art Basel draws gallerists, dealers, artists, and enthusiasts from across the globe to Switzerland. More recently, Art Basel has hosted events in Miami, Hong Kong, and Paris.
The museum features a collection of modern and contemporary art with a selection of pieces from indigenous cultures in Oceania, Alaska, and Africa. Further, Fondation Beyeler’s design amongst an English garden provides guests with a holistic experience to enrich their humanity. Ultimately, the foundation and museum symbolize Beyeler’s commitment to service and making high art accessible. Learn more below of the institution and purpose behind it in cultivating a living work of art intended to change through time.
The Vision Behind the Beyeler
As the founder, Ernst Beyeler (1921-2010) opened the museum in his hometown of Basel in 1997. Since then, more than eight million people have visited, thereby making it the most frequented art museum in Switzerland. The bedrock of the collection consists of 400 works donated by Beyeler and his wife Hildy (1922-2008).
In developing the institution, Beyeler enlisted the help of Hans Grether in securing a generous bank guarantee to begin his work. Grether, a healthcare and cosmetics tycoon, facilitated collaboration with the Kunsthaus Zürich as well as private citizens to develop the foundation, while securing financing against shares of his firm, the Doetsch Grether Group. Not to be outdone, Esther Grether, the widow of Hans, maintains her own collection of modern art, featuring the works of Dalí, Cézanne, Bacon, and Giacometti, among others. At the beginning of the 1980s, the Grethers began to take steps to transform their collection into a formal museum.
Beyeler established a significant part of his collection through his acquisition from G. David Thompson, the American art patron and collector. Thompson notably was an avid collector of Giacometti. Ernst served as the inaugural director of the institution until 2003. Thereafter, subsequent directors facilitated the growth of both the museum and foundation. The generous endowment established by the Beyelers helps to fund the daily operation costs as well as the acquisition of new works of art for the collection. According to the current director of Fondation Beyeler, Sam Keller, a native of Basel as well, Ernst and Hildy “realized that what was considered new art in their day wouldn’t still be considered new art in the decades to come.” As such, the foundation seeks to stay current while remaining rooted in values pivoting on beauty and humanity.
The Collection
The works housed at the Fondation Beyeler feature a bounty from 19th and 20th century art through contemporary times. Works by masters like Monet, Van Gogh, Picasso, Rothko, Kiefer, and Giacometti stand out. The sculptures of Femme de Venise VIII and Grande femme III by Giacometti are of particular note. The collection itself cultivates a compelling dialectic with nature through the structure and design of the building. Nestled in a verdant landscape park, the building is saturated with natural light which pours down from the glass roof. Echoing the impressionist works depicting nature, a vast water-lily pond is positioned at the entrance.
Designed by the renowned architect Renzo Piano, the museum boasts a bucolic setting amongst a sculpture garden featuring pieces by Thomas Schütte Hare, Alexander Calder, and Ellsworth Kelly. Interestingly, Ernst Beyeler requested Piano to source 20 stone options for the exterior walls of the institution before eventually deciding upon the Patagonian red porphyry, which compliments the landscape particularly in the fall. In fact, Beyeler envisioned the Fondation as both a place to experience art and rejuvenate one’s health.
Prior to the development of the museum in the late 1990s, the collection of Ernst and Hildy traveled around the world on display. The first exhibition took place at the Reina Sofía in Madrid in 1989, the Neue Nationalgalerie in Berlin in 1993, and in 1997 traveled to the Art Gallery of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia. In 2007, a special exhibition at the museum celebrated all of the pieces acquired by Beyeler throughout his career. This reunion included pieces like: Portrait of Postman Roulin by Van Gogh, a Jackson Pollock, and Roy Lichtenstein’s Plus and Minus III. Furthermore, by 2025, a new $100-million extension is scheduled for completion. In visiting the museum, the Beyeler encourages guests to make use of public transportation, specifically a train which takes approximately 29 minutes from central Basel. For cycling enthusiasts, bicycle tours of the area are facilitated through a path.
Special Exhibitions
During the summer, from June 11 until August 27, an exhibition entitled Basquiat. The Modena Paintings features works like: Profit, Untitled, as well as The Guilt of Gold Teeth. The painting Profit was owned briefly by the drummer Lars Ulrich from the rock band Metallica. The work itself was completed by the artist in his prime period, reflecting influences from de Kooning, Picasso, and Twombly.
The Modena paintings are some of the artist’s most expensive works acquired at auction. The Modena works were created in the summer of 1982 when Basquiat traveled to the Northern Italian city at the invitation of gallery owner Emilio Mazzoli to produce works for a solo exhibition there. In the span of a few days, Basquiat produced eight large-form canvases. Though the exhibition never took place and the paintings were never displayed together, they will be reunited from collections in Switzerland, Asia, and the United States for the public to enjoy for the first time.
In the near future, from September 22, 2024 to January 26, 2025, Fondation Beyeler will organize a Henri Matisse exhibition, serving as the first retrospective of the artist in Switzerland as well as the larger German-speaking world in approximately 20 years. Matisse became a seminal figure in 20th century modern art, influencing generations of artists since his passing in 1954.
The show will include roughly 80 pieces from esteemed European and American museums and private collections, echoing previous exhibitions at the Beyeler on Gaugin, Monet, and Picasso. Rooted in the poem “Invitation to the Voyage” by Baudelaire, which Matisse found informative for his work thematically in terms of luxe, calme, et volupté (luxury, peace, and pleasure), the exhibition highlights the influence of travel on Matisse’s artistic journey. Spanning his full career, major works of the exhibition include: La Desserte, Luxe, calme et volupté, Le Luxe I, and Grand nu couché.
Other Art Institutions in Basel
Within central Basel, art enthusiasts may consider complementing their visit to the Foundation Beyeler with a stop at the Kunstmuseum Basel, which is composed of three separate buildings. Like the Beyeler, the work of Giacometti figures are prominent in the collection, including pieces like La Boule suspendue. Likewise, guests experience the art of Picasso and Paul Klee. Those interested in antiquity may find the Antikenmuseum appealing with its collection of works from Egypt, Ancient Greece and Rome. In addition, coordinating a visit during Art Basel may appeal to guests interested in experiencing one of the world’s preeminent fairs. Surely, transportation to the museums is made easy within central Basel via taxis, public transportation, and pedestrian walkways from a selection of accommodation options.
Cover Photo: Kurt Wyss, Basel. Ernst Beyeler in front of a work by Pablo Picasso at Art Basel, 1970.
