Gertrud Dübi-Müller (1888-1980) was one of Switzerland’s foremost art collectors, a passionate photographer, driver of motorcars, and mountaineer, and she sat for Ferdinand Hodler and other artists. The Kunstmuseum Basel presents the first extensive exhibition dedicated to her.
Ferdinand Hodler (1853-1918), picture of Gertrud Müller, 1911. Kunstmuseum Solothurn – Dübi-Müller-Stiftung
Around eighty works by renowned artists from her international collection, arresting photographs, and previously unpublished documents shed light on Dübi-Müller’s life and illustrate her influential role in the history of art and culture in unprecedented breadth.
Cuno Amiet, Der violette Hut (Bildnis Gertrud Müller), 1907. Dübi-Müller-Stiftung
She struck up friendships with numerous artists including Ferdinand Hodler, who immortalized her in seventeen portraits. Her photo camera recorded not only the lives of her artist friends but also her own adventures.
Her accomplishments as a mountaineer, including an ascent of the Matterhorn, underscore her extraordinary determination and independence for a woman of her time and set her apart as a remarkable personality whose life and dedication to the arts remain an inspiration today.
Impression from the exhibition
The exhibition Van Gogh, Hodler and a Cabriolet. The Collector and Pioneer Gertrud Dübi-Müller gathers outstanding works by international artists including Paul Cezanne, Gustav Klimt, and Vincent van Gogh as well as eminent Swiss artists like Cuno Amiet, Alice Bailly, Giovanni Giacometti, and Ferdinand Hodler.
Gertrud Dübi-Müller (Umkreis), Gertrud Müller in her car “Pic-Pic”, 1911. © Gertrud Dübi-Müller / Fotostiftung Schweiz
In addition to the treasures now at the Kunstmuseum Solothurn, it features works from other Swiss museums and from private lenders that were formerly in Dübi-Müller’s collection. Photographs taken by the collector herself and others, previously unpublished letters, and hand-painted postcards that artists and creative professionals sent Dübi-Müller provide intimate insight into her network.
Impression from the exhibition
Gertrud Dübi-Müller ice-skating, Mürren, around 1931. Gertrud Dübi-Müller Archiv/Fotostiftung Schweiz