Kunsthaus Zürich

Kunsthaus Zürich

Location	Zürich, Switzerland
Director	Christoph Becker
Website	http://www.kunsthaus.ch

The Kunsthaus Zürich is an art museum in Zürich, Switzerland. It houses one of the most important art collections in Switzerland, assembled over the years by the local art association called Zürcher Kunstgesellschaft. The collection spans from the Middle Ages to contemporary art, with an emphasis on Swiss art.

Architecture

The museum was drawn-up by architects Karl Moser and Robert Curjel and opened in 1910. Particularly notable are the several preserved Moser interiors in the original section of the museum, decorated in masterful Neo-Grec version of Secession style. The bas-reliefs on the facade are by Moser's longtime collaborator Oskar Kiefer. The original museum building was extended in 1925, 1958 and 1976.

A $230 million extension by London-based David Chipperfield was opened in 2020. Half of the extension's budget came from the city and canton of Zurich, with the other half provided by private donors. Chipperfield's design is a massive rectangular sandstone-covered building. The extension will add 5,040 sq ft (468 m²) of galleries, increasing display space by 78%. The Kunsthaus will become the largest Swiss art museum, overtaking the Kunstmuseum Basel in the available space but not the collection. The two upper floors will be for art, with facilities at ground level and a basement link under the street to the original museum across the street in Heimplatz.

Lydia Escher (1858–1891), being a prominent Zürich patron of the arts, was honored by the Gesellschaft zu Fraumünster association on the occasion of her 150th anniversary by a commemorative plaque, located at the front of the building. The place was baptized on 20 August 2008 by the city of Zürich as Lydia Welti-Escher Hof.

Collection

The museum's collection includes major works by artists including Claude Monet (several works including an enormous water lily painting), Edvard Munch, Pablo Picasso, Jacques Lipchitz and the Swiss Alberto Giacometti. Other Swiss artists such as Johann Heinrich Füssli, Ferdinand Hodler or from recent times, Pipilotti Rist and Peter Fischli are also represented. Furthermore, works from Vincent van Gogh, Édouard Manet, Henri Matisse and René Magritte are to be found.

Management

Leadership

• 1909–1949: Wilhelm Wartmann
• 1950–1975: René Wehrli
• 1976–2000: Felix Baumann
• 2000–present: Christoph Becker

Attendance

In 2013, the Kunsthaus had 315,000 visitors. In a press release (dating January 12, 2017) the institution declared to have reached a record of 320'000 visitors in 2016. On Wednesday admission to the Collection is free of charge for all visitors.

Public transport

The gallery is served by a stop on the Zürich tram system, known as Kunsthaus. This is located on Pfauenplatz, between the museum building and the Schauspielhaus Zürich.

Gallery

• 
  Berner Nelkenmeister, Johannes der Täufer in der Wüste
• 
  J. M. William Turner, Die Teufelsbrücke St. Gotthard
• 
  Johann Heinrich Wüest, Der Rhonegletscher
• 
  Arnold Böcklin, Der Krieg
• 
  Édouard Manet, Die Flucht des Rochefort
• 
  Henri Rousseau, Am Waldrand
• 
  August Macke, Landschaft mit Kühen und Kamel
• 
  Piet Mondrian, Composition II in Red, Blue, and Yellow

Controversy

The integrated artworks from the collection of the arms dealer Emil Bührle has caused discussion and criticism due to concern that some of the artworks may have been sold under duress by Jews persecuted by Nazis during the Third Reich. Critics say that the ownership history of the artworks has not been sufficiently clarified and, in January 2021, a petition was launched to demand access for impartial international researchers.

See also

• List of paintings in collection

External links

• Official site of the Kunsthaus Zürich, with information on its history and collections
• Kunsthaus Zürich at Google Cultural Institute