Agenda

The Zentrum Paul Klee is devoting a major exhibition to the Swiss-French artist-architect, designer, writer, and theorist Le Corbusier (1887–1965). The exhibition focuses on the architect, designer, and urban planner’s working process and three-dimensional thought.

The exhibition (Le Corbusier. The Order of Things) offers a comprehensive overview of his entire output from an artistic perspective. It includes iconic items and groups of works that have remained largely unknown.

Charles-Édouard Jeanneret, better known under the pseudonym Le Corbusier, is one of the most important personalities of modern architecture and one of the most prominent and globally influential protagonists of international modernism.

He shaped modern architecture with enormous energy, radical visions and provocative rhetoric. In his work, he set out to design living and urban spaces in a new way.

To achieve this, he used the new possibilities of technical progress, combining these with the classical principles of aesthetics. Le Corbusier used the products of modern technologies, such as reinforced concrete in his buildings, ocean steamers, aeroplanes, and cars, as models for architecture since these placed form in a direct relationship with function. He developed methods to innovatively use the artistic and sculptural possibilities of this modern way of building.

This exhibition centres around Le Corbusier’s working process, his three-dimensional thought, and the artistic experiment in the ‘studio of patient research’ ( l’ Atelier de la recherche patiente), which he described as his method.

One can see how Le Corbusier combined space, light and colour. The presentation includes numerous drawings and sketches from the ‘Studio of patient research’ Throughout his life, he saw drawing as a central way of capturing and treating what was seen and developing new ideas.

The exhibition also illuminates the sources that flow into the design process—from objects found on the beach to the architecture of antiquity. The principle ‘Order’ was of great importance to Le Corbusier. With this concept, the exhibition also picks up an accessible and universal art and art-historical topic that extends back into antiquity while remaining topical.

Designing art and architecture meant ‘ordering’ things for him.  It was only through order, he believed, that humanity could develop spiritually and free itself from the moods of nature, from chance and randomness. In architecture, ‘the principle of order’ is first based on the desire to bring forms, colours, light, and space into a harmonic relationship. His understanding of order goes back to classical traditions in art and architecture.

He shared with the artistic avant-garde of his time the radical impulse to question traditions and to reshape—to ‘order’—the lived reality of people’s lives. This impulse connected art and architecture, culture and society.

The exhibition is arranged thematically and chronologically and divided into three axes: art, architecture and research.

The exhibition Verso shows what is hidden on the backside of paintings and painted (religious) works from the 14th to 18th centuries. One should be aware that these works of art were not displayed in museums but in their spiritual or secular context. Their meaning and symbolism were clear for contemporaries.

This context is missing in museums, and today, the meaning of symbolism and visualisation is mostly unknown. The back, ‘verso,’ often offers relevant information; sometimes, it is even a work of art. That is what makes this original exhibition so interesting and engaging.

Thirty-six works of art from the museum’s collection are displayed in a specially designed arrangement that allows visitors to see both sides of the paintings.

Hans Holbein the Younger, 1516, Jacob Meyer zum Hasen (mayor of Basel) and his wife Dorothea Kannengieser  ‘recto’ with ‘verso’ the family heraldry, 1520.

The exhibition provides a historical, social, religious and dynastic context only museum staff and other insiders can usually access. The exhibition thus opens up new perspectives of even well-known works of art (among others by Hans Baldung, Lucas Cranach the Elder, Hans Holbein the Younger, Ambrosius Holbein and Konrad Witz.

Unknown artist, 16 century. Image of David Joris alias Johann von Brügge (1501-1556) around 1544. Inscription in Latin and German applied in 1559. Kunstmuseum Basel, Amerbach-Kabinett

The exhibition shows different facets with ‘verso’ images in eight sections and offers a wealth of observations on motifs and, for example, reused material.

For example, in 1517, Niklaus Manuel (called Deutsch) created a trompe l’oeil (a ‘deception of the eye’). This thin panel resembles a chiaroscuro drawing on coloured paper, a characteristic format of the period. Just as graphic artists often use both sides of a paper, the painter produced a second work on the verso that is even more spectacular than the recto.

Niklaus Manuel, 1517, Bathsheba bathing (recto); the death as warrior holds a young woman (verso). Kunstmuseum Basel, Amerbach-Kabinett. Photo : Martin P. Bühler

Images of the exhibition

Master of Sierentz, St. George and the dragon, around 1445, ‘verso’ the mourning of Christ, right-wing of a retable. Kunstmuseum Basel, Amerbach-Kabinett. Photo Martin P. Bühler

The Fondation de l’Hermitage shows 136 Impressionist and post-Impressionist masterpieces from the Petit Palais in Geneva. In the 1950s, the industrialist Oscar Ghez (1905-1998) began acquiring works that reflect his remarkably free approach to collecting, with interest in late-19th and early 20th-century painting that was not exclusively confined to the great masters.

Alongside magnificent works by Édouard Manet and Auguste Renoir, he also acquired paintings by lesser-known artists at the time, such as Gustave Caillebotte, Charles Angrand, Maximilien Luce and Louis Valtat, some of whom have since become iconic.

A particular feature of the Ghez collection is his early acquisition of many works by women painters. In the late 1950s, the collector’s anti-conformist approach and belief that these artists had not been given their just value led him to purchase works by Marie Bracquemond, Suzanne Valadon, María Blanchard, Nathalie Kraemer, Jeanne Hébuterne, and Tamara de Lempicka, whose works have since gained much greater recognition.

Ghez’s approach to the main currents in figurative painting similarly took him off the beaten track. Alongside the great names of Impressionism, Neo-Impressionism, Fauvism, the School of Paris, and Cubism, his collection includes highly original works by lesser-known artists of the second half of the 20th century.

The Centre Dürrenmatt Neuchâtel (CDN) presents the exhibition ‘Imaginaires atomiques/ Atomare Bildwelten’, which examines Friedrich Dürrenmatt’s (1921-1990) vision of the atomic bomb and combines his work with that of contemporary artists.

The atomic bomb had a strong influence on Friedrich Dürrenmatt. He responded with an extensive body of artistic and literary work, as well as with civic actions and pacifist declarations.

In his famous play The Physicists, caricatures, and cabaret pieces, he resorts to humour and the grotesque to warn humanity of the danger of self-destruction.

In addition to the works of Friedrich Dürrenmatt, works by Vanessa Billy (*1978), Christine Boillat (*1978), Miriam Cahn (*1949), Alain Huck (*1957) and Gilles Rotzetter (*1978) provide contemporary insights into a highly topical subject.

In the exhibition ‘L’Âge atomique – Les artistes à l’épreuve de l’histoire’ at the Musée d’Art Moderne in Paris, further works by Friedrich Dürrenmatt from the CDN collection will be on display until 9 February 2025.

The permanent exhibition of the Valaisan Irrigation Canal Museum (Musée valaisan des bisses/Walliser Suonenmuseum) presents the history and functions of the bisses (Suonen in German).

The region around Visp (Viège), Raron (Raronge), the Lötschberg (Steg-Hohtenn and Niedergestein), and the Baltschiedertal in the canton of Valais is a dry area in the Rhone basin. Its dry and mild climate promotes viticulture, agriculture, and cattle breeding.

Suonen (bisses in French) Irrigated the land. Suonen are wooden or stone irrigation systems that lead water from the source (glaciers, springs and streams) to the agricultural areas.

The complex world of irrigation comes into focus in a dozen thematically arranged sections. History, geography, construction techniques, irrigation techniques and social organisation are covered.

Hundreds of documents and objects, interactive media, films and the full-size reconstruction of an irrigation canal show the irrigation techniques developed and still used in this Alpine region.

In the context of its permanent exhibition, the Zentrum Paul Klee in Bern also focuses thematically on the avant-garde journals of the early 20th century. With some 150 exhibits, attention is devoted to the journal as an artistic field of experimentation.

These journals became an important medium in art – from Futurism via Dadaism to Surrealism and beyond.

The artistic ‘avant-garde’ phenomenon evolved in Europe in the 1910s. Between 1910 and 1933, numerous journals were published. They presented a vision of art and society and drew attention to the artists.

Today, these journals with titles such as MERZ, Cabaret Voltaire, Sturm, Kentiku Sekai and Habitat are among the most significant documents of global modernism. Their often extremely innovative design is particularly fascinating: many avant-garde journals used design and typography as an opportunity to make radical ideas and concepts visually accessible.

They picked up expressive typefaces, colours, and forms and worked with exciting combinations of text and images to signal dynamism and the break with tradition. This makes them forerunners of modern visual communication and advertising design, which works with the same principles.

Another innovation was that many avant-garde journals were published multilingually or contained content in different languages. This multilingualism reflects the world of many representatives of modern art who lived in exile or were migrants. Avant-garde-minded artists often had global networks and forged and nurtured alliances across national borders.

Contemporary and 18th-century art mingle with paper aristocratic ghosts visiting the court of Frederick II (1712-1786), King of Prussia and Prince of Neuchâtel.

Frederick Beck, Friedrich II., 1788. Private collection

At Château de Nyon, the paper figures are arranged in a scenography by the artist Isabelle de Borchgrave (1946-2024). She often got her inspiration from court portraits in Berlin and Versailles, made from porcelain and the interiors of palaces.

The link between Berlin and Nyon is the porcelain. Jakob Dortu, who founded the porcelain factory in Nyon in 1781, gained his experience at the Berlin factory, which King Frederick II had founded.

Moreover, the museum’s collection includes Meissen porcelain with chinoiserie decorations prominently featured in the exhibition.

Impressions of the exhibition

fashion around 1780

The three-country region inspired cartoonist Peter Gaymann to create new cartoons, drawings, and objects.

In addition to his well-known chickens, he also lets pigs, women, men, children and cats look across the borders, allowing us to discover not only animal and human abysses but also unexpected similarities, differences, clichés and other truths from all areas of life in France, Switzerland and Germany.

Bizarre, surprising, and rarely shown exhibits from the Dreiländermuseum (Three Countries Museum) collection complement the show.

The exhibition ‘Typically Dreiland’ is a collaboration between the Dreiländermuseum and Baaske Cartoons, Müllheim in Markgräflerland.

The recently opened exhibition ‘Matisse—Einladung zur Reise’ at the Fondation Beyeler features more than 70 important works from renowned European and American museums and private collections. It focuses on the development and diversity of Henri Matisse’s pioneering oeuvre (1869-1954).

Based on the famous 1857 poem ‘l’ invitation au voyage’ by Charles Baudelaire (1821-1867), the exhibition invites visitors on a journey through Matisse’s unique oeuvre and life. The artist made many journeys, both in art and in his life.

During his explorations of countries such as Italy, Spain, Morocco, and Tahiti, the French artist constantly drew inspiration from nature and the art of other cultures.

The retrospective covers all the French artist’s creative phases and presents an unmistakable interplay of painting, drawing and sculpture.

The Antikenmuseum Basel and Sammlung Ludwig has a collection of Greek ceramics known far beyond their borders for their quality and diversity.

Three new permanent exhibitions are presented in a new scenography, and two new audio tours show the collection’s richness in a varied and interactive way. In addition, all of the Museum’s collections (Roman and Oriental) will be open to the public simultaneously.

Permanent Exhibition 1: Treasures from the collection and their stories

This new permanent exhibition is dedicated to the history of the Museum, which was founded in 1961 and opened in 1966.

New permanent exhibition ‘Treasures from the collection and their history’ (Schätze der Sammlung und ihre Geschichten). © Ruedi Habegger, Antikenmuseum Basel und Sammlung Ludwig

Permanent exhibition 2: The world of the Etruscans

In six rooms, this permanent exhibition gives a comprehensive picture of this remarkable culture, to which artfully decorated ceramics, filigree jewellery, weapons and everyday objects bear witness.

The exhibition focuses particularly on the social and cultural changes that resulted from the people’s intensive contact with other cultures in the ancient Mediterranean.

New permanent exhibition ‘World of the Etruscans’ (Welt der Etrusker). © Ruedi Habegger, Antikenmuseum Basel und Sammlung Ludwig

Permanent exhibition 3: How a Greek masterpiece was made

Greek ceramics fascinate with their beautiful forms and elaborate decorations. They give insight into the life, customs, and beliefs of a past civilisation that nevertheless produced the most fundamental achievements of the West: dialogue, music, the Olympic Games, art, education, science, philosophy, sport, literature, theatre, and the world’s first (direct) democracy.

The new didactic and interactive exhibition shows the diversity of Greek vases and vividly illustrates their production and use.

New permanent exhibition ‘How a Greek masterpiece was made’(Wie ein Meisterwerk entsteht) © Ruedi Habegger, Antikenmuseum Basel und Sammlung Ludwig