Kunstmuseum Basel

The Kunstmuseum Basel ranks among the most renowned institutions of its kind in Europe and beyond. Its world-famous collection, the Öffentliche Kunstsammlung Basel, now encompasses around 4.000 paintings, sculptures, installations, and videos as well as 300.000 drawings and prints from seven centuries. Its historic nucleus is the Amerbach Cabinet, the art collection built by Basilius Amerbach, a prominent citizen of Basel. It was purchased by the city and the university in 1661 and displayed to the public starting in 1671, arguably making it the world’s oldest municipal art collection.

This museum greets you in the following languages: D/F/I/E
Opening 1661

Current exhibitions

Leiko Ikemura. Toward New Seas

11.05.2019 - 01.09.2019

Presenting drawings, paintings, and sculptures, the exhibition To new seas is a focused retrospective, mounted in consultation with the artist and in cooperation with the National Art Center, Tokyo.

The exhibition is documented in the following languages: D/F/E

Helmut Federle. 19 E. 21st St., Six Large Paintings

25.05.2019 - 15.09.2019

The exhibition presents six paintings created between 1980 and 2005 and a number of works on paper from the collection of the Kupferstichkabinett (Department of Prints and Drawings) as well as historic non-European ceramics from the artist’s own collection.

The exhibition is documented in the following languages: D/F/E

«Schau, ich bin blind, schau.». The collection of Hans and Monika Furer

17.08.2019 - 01.12.2019

The show throws light on Zaugg’s sustained and probing scrutiny of the phenomenon of perception. Opening with his “remarks” on Paul Cézanne’s famous painting La maison du pendu (1872–1873)—in which Zaugg replaces fragmentary elements with literal descriptions—the display also includes other works from the series Ein Blatt Papier, Für ein Bild and Schau, ich bin blind, schau.

The exhibition is documented in the following languages: D/F/E

Next exhibition(s)

Controversial? Selected works from the collection

29.09.2019 - 05.01.2020

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Museums all over the world have recently found themselves put on the defensive by critics who demanded that they justify the presence in their collections of works of art that were regarded, for a variety of reasons, as provocative. The media have brought these challenges to the attention of the public, and the institutions’ responses have not always been even tempered and apt to effectively rebut the accusations.

The exhibition is documented in the following languages: D/E
Guided tours are offered in the following languages: D/F/E

Gold and Glory. Gifts for Eternity

11.10.2019 - 19.01.2020

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Timed to coincide with the 1000th anniversary of the Basel cathedral’s consecration, which was celebrated in the fall of 1019 in the presence of Emperor Henry II, the exhibition Gold & Glory. Gifts for Eternity unfurls a panorama of cultural history that explores the reign and culture of the last Ottonian ruler from a variety of perspectives.

The exhibition is documented in the following languages: D/F/E

Max Sulzbachner. Moonlit Nights and Ruckus in Basel

26.10.2019 - 09.02.2020

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The Kunstmuseum Basel honors the Basel artist Max Sulzbachner (1904–1985) with a focused retrospective of his eclectic oeuvre and a publication. Despite Sulzbachner’s renown and abiding popularity, his work has never been the subject of a comprehensive study. The exhibition and the accompanying catalogue will close this gap in the historiography of art in Basel.

The exhibition is documented in the following languages: D

A Passion for Pictures. Louise Bachofen-Burckhardt: Collecting for Basel

26.10.2019 - 29.03.2020

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The presentation demonstrates how much of the Kunstmuseum’s present-day profile and renown are due to Louise Bachofen-Burckhardt’s endeavors. No less important than the addition of her treasures to the collection is her influence as a shining example: a pioneer in the field of art collecting and philanthropy in Switzerland, she was surely an inspiration for many later Basel benefactors.

The exhibition is documented in the following languages: D