Art Knowledge News
Kunsthaus Zurich Announces Programs to Celebrate 100th Anniversary |
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| Written by Karl Unger |
| Saturday, 19 December 2009 01:52 |
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Chronology of the Kunsthaus and Its Collection as of 1910 On April 17, 1910, on land donated by City Councillor Landolt, the Zürcher Kunstgesellschaft opened the ‘Kunsthaus’ – neither a museum nor an art gallery, but rather, as noted by architect Karl Moser, both at once. The word ‘Kunsthaus’ in its name signaled the Kunstgesellschaft’s will to inscribe itself in the tradition of other democratic institutions, such as the guild hall and the schoolhouse. To this day, the Kunsthaus is committed to openness and continuity. Swiss Art Sets the Tone The first conservator, Wilhelm Wartmann (director until 1949), initially focused on Swiss art, a reasonably circumscribed field, and complemented the store of contemporary work, which enjoyed particular interest at the time, with groups of paintings from the Late Gothic period as well as by Johann Heinrich Füssli. When its major exhibition of work by Ferdinand Hodler in 1917 made it clear that the Kunstgesellschaft did not have sufficient means at its disposal for acquisitions, the silk magnate Alfred Rüetschi founded the Vereinigung Zürcher Kunstfreunde (Zurich Association of Friends of the Arts), which to this day regularly enhances the Kunsthaus collection with the purchase of significant pieces. Rüetschi himself made several of Hodler’s large compositions and key landscapes available. Daring to be Avantgarde: Impressionism and Expressionism In 1920 the Kunsthaus was bequeathed Hans Schuler’s collection, and thus acquired its first works of French Impressionism and Post-Impressionism in the form of pieces by Renoir, Cézanne, van Gogh and Bonnard. Years of preparation had gone into Wartmann’s first show of work by Edvard Munch when it opened in 1922, followed in turn by his inauguration of the largest collection of Munch’s art outside of Scandinavia. In 1925 Karl Moser added to the Kunsthaus complex, and in 1929 the banker Hans E. Mayenfisch began to purchase paintings by living Swiss artists, amassing over 450 works by the time of his death in 1957. Nobel Prize laureate Leopold Ruzicka made a foundation in 1949 of his extraordinary collection of 17th-century Dutch painting.
A group of art-lovers led by the Bechtler brothers created a foundation in 1965 of the leading collection of art by Alberto Giacometti, who himself donated further works. In 1966 Nelly Bär endowed the Nelly and Werner Bär gallery and donated a key group of sculptures by Rodin and Richier, among others. The comprehensive collection of work by Marc Chagall was initiated in the 1970s thanks to Gustav Zumsteg, soap manufacturer and owner of the Kronenhalle restaurant, and with the support of a number of patrons and the artist himself. During the same period, Erna and Curt Burgauer began donating examples of modern art to the Kunsthaus, and in 1976 Erwin Müller’s extension was opened, providing an excellent venue for contemporary genres above all. Felix Baumann replaced René Wehrli as director that same year. In 1980, thanks to numerous donations, an extensive collection of works documenting the Dada movement was established, while the Johanna and Walter L. Wolf collection added new works of French art from Impressionism to classical modernism in 1984. Art dealers Betty and David M. Koetser donated their important collection of Dutch paintings and works of the Italian Baroque and the Venetian Settecento as a foundation in 1986. The Collection of Prints and Drawings was enhanced with 55 master engravings by Renaissance artist Albrecht Dürer (1471-1528), the gift of Landamman Dietrich Schindler. In 2001 the Kunstrat decided on a new strategy: internal working groups and experts were to participate in public hearings on the future of the Kunsthaus, and thus underpin plans for structural modernization; acquisitions were to come increasingly from the contemporary art world; and Old Masters from various collections were to be integrated into a joint presentation, which would enable them to attain international renown. Bruno and Odette Giacometti favored the Kunsthaus in 2006 with a donation to the Alberto Giacometti Foundation, whose holdings enhanced with over 90 bronzes and original plasters make it the world’s key Giacometti collection. The Future: An Extension for Art and the Public The Kunsthaus extension, to be built by the Kunstgesellschaft in partnership with the city of Zurich and the Stiftung Zürcher Kunsthaus and with a planned completion date in 2015, is to meet the demands of a 21st-century public. The design submitted by David Chipperfield was the winner of the architecture competition held in 2008. Joined by an underground passageway, the ensemble comprising the existing building with the extension will constitute the New Kunsthaus, Switzerland’s largest art museum. The agreement reached in 2006 with the world-renowned Foundation E.G. Bührle Collection laid the groundwork for the leading centre of French painting and Impressionism outside of Paris. The future international ranking of the Kunsthaus Zürich will likely be established in 2011/2012, when Zurich’s electorate votes on a credit facility for the Kunsthaus extension. If the project, a joint undertaking with thecity of Zurich and the Stiftung Zürcher Kunsthaus, is approved, as of 2015 the New Kunsthaus will receive 400,000 visitors annually, an increase of more than 30 percent over current footfall. For the Kunsthaus, this fourth extension is a key milestone in its history, while the city of Zurich will have a rare chance to take a leading position in the international cultural sweepstakes. Centenary Programme Indeed, the shows planned for the Kunsthaus Zürich’s centenary in 2010 are eagerly awaited: from ‘Van Gogh, Cézanne, Monet – The Bührle Collection Visits the Kunsthaus Zürich’ to a reconstruction of the first public collection of paintings in Switzerland, the Gessner Cabinet, and a tribute to Pablo Picasso and his first-ever museum retrospective, mounted in 1932 at the Kunsthaus Zürich and to this day unrivalled in its comprehensive presentation of work from the artist’s first 35 years of creation. Click on logo below to add this article to your favorite Social Website ~ |
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