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Bechtler Museum of Modern Art Introduces an Important Collection To The Public

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Written by Benjamin Custer   
Thursday, 11 February 2010 22:23

The museum is named after the family of Andreas Bechtler, a Charlotte resident and native of Switzerland who assembled and inherited a collection of more than 1,400 artworks created by major figures of 20th-century modernism and donated it to the public trust.

CHARLOTTE, NC.- The Bechtler Museum of Modern Art, the only museum dedicated to the exhibition of mid 20th-century European modern art in the southeast, opened to the public Saturday, January 2, 2010 in Charlotte, North Carolina. The building, designed by world renowned Swiss architect Mario Botta, is destined to become an iconic structure with its boldly cantilevered fourth floor exhibition gallery, soaring glass and steel atrium and terra cotta exterior. Only a handful of the artworks in the Bechtler collection have been on public view in the United States. Until now, the collection was privately held by the Bechtler family and has since been committed to the city of Charlotte.

The museum is named after the family of Andreas Bechtler, a Charlotte resident and native of Switzerland who assembled and inherited a collection of more than 1,400 artworks created by major figures of 20th-century modernism and donated it to the public trust. The Bechtler collection reflects most of the important art movements and schools from the 20th century with a deep holding of the School of Paris after World War II.

The collection is comprised of artworks by seminal figures such as Alberto Giacometti, Joan Miro, Jean Tinguely, Max Ernst, Andy Warhol, Le Corbusier, Sol Lewitt, Edgar Degas, Nicolas de Stael, Barbara Hepworth and Picasso. In many instances the holdings by a particular artist are across various media (painting, sculpture, drawing, prints and decorative arts). Some works in the collection are also accompanied by books, photographs and letters illustrating personal connections to the Bechtler family.

The Bechtler Museum of Modern is part of a public-private partnership that is creating new and enhanced cultural facilities along Charlotte’s South Tryon Street corridor. Joining the Bechtler on the Wells Fargo Cultural Campus are the Mint Museum of Art, the Knight Theater and the Harvey B. Gantt Center for African American Arts & Culture.

Niki de Saint Phalle - Untitled - © Niki Charitable Art Foundation. All rights reserved / ARS, NY / ADAGP, Paris

The collection presented includes works by the most important and influential artists of the mid 20th century including Miró, Giacometti, Picasso, Calder, Hepworth, Nicholson, Warhol, Tinguely, Ernst, Le Corbusier, Chillida and many others. Only a handful of these wonderful artworks have been on public view in the United States. Until now, the collection was privately held by the Bechtler family of Switzerland.

The Bechtler Museum of Modern Art would not exist without the extraordinary generosity of art patron Andreas Bechtler. Inspired by his parents, Andreas made his remarkable collection (amassed by the Bechtler family over 70 years) available for all to engage – whether for solace and reflection, inspiration and surprise or for challenge and self-discovery. These works and their many stories will reward any number of visits to the Bechtler Museum of Modern Art.  Visit : http://www.bechtler.org/

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