In a world premiere, the Fondation Beyeler shows a representative selection of surrealist masterpieces from the Hersaint Collection. The exhibition (The Key to Dreams. Surrealist Masterworks from the Collection Hersaint) includes around 50 key works by artists such as Salvador Dalí, Max Ernst, René Magritte, Joan Miró, Pablo Picasso, Man Ray, Dorothea Tanning, Toyen as well as Balthus, Jean Dubuffet, Wifredo Lam and many others, reflecting on significant surrealism themes such as the night, dreams, the unconscious, metamorphoses or the forest as a site of mystery.
The paintings from the Hersaint Collection are presented in dialogue with works from the Fondation Beyeler. Referencing the title of a significant work by René Magritte (1898-1967) from the Hersaint Collection, La Clef des songes (the Key to Dreams) encapsulates the collection’s surrealist focus.
Claude Hersaint founded the Hersaint Collection (1904 – 1993), one of the earliest and most important collectors of Surrealist art. The Hersaint Collection comprises around 150 works, including Max Ernst’s (1891-1976) impressive Hausengel, der Triumph des Surrealismus) (The Fireside Angel, The Triumph of Surrealism), painted in 1937, which is the icon of Surrealism.