| Description |  |
In a extremely sensitive response to the collection, its creators and the location, Renzo Piano has created an ideal building for presenting modern art. From outside, the approximately 127 metre-long building, which is shielded from traffic noise by a porphyry-clad external wall, resembles a ship lying anchored alongside the busy road. |
| Histoire | |
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Over a period of fifty years, in parallel to their successful activity as gallery owners, Hildy and Ernst Beyeler built up an exceptional collection of works by modern masters. Their collection, which was transferred to a foundation in 1982, was first publicly exhibited in its entirety at the Centro de Arte Reina Sofía in Madrid in 1989. Currently comprising around 200 works, the Beyeler Collection documents a very personal view of modern art and an unerring ability to recognize quality.
The opening of the Fondation Beyeler in October 1997 provided the Beyeler Collection with a public museum. The building was designed by the Italian architect Renzo Piano. Works by modern masters such as Cézanne, Picasso, Rousseau, Mondrian, Klee, Ernst, Matisse, Newman, Bacon, Dubuffet, Baselitz are displayed alongside, and in direct interaction with, 25 objects from Africa, Alaska and Oceania.
The Fondation Beyeler sees itself as a public forum for innovation, not just as the custodian of a valuable treasure. One-third of its 3,800 square metres of exhibition space is therefore set aside for two to three special exhibitions a year. The purpose of those exhibitions is to create exciting interaction between the collection, which covers a limited time span, and the present. |
