Kunsthaus Zurich

When in 1787 a circle of artists and connoisseurs began to meet on a regular basis for friendly discussion and mutual encouragement, they could hardly have imagined the Kunsthaus as it is today. Yet out of this group arose the Zürcher Kunstgesellschaft, the driving force behind the emergence of the Kunsthaus. As a result of their efforts, the museum was opened in 1910 and, after many extensions, today houses one of Switzerland’s most important collections.

The important collection of works by Alberto Giacometti has been on display in bright new rooms since June 2002. Other rooms house exquisite medieval sculptures and altar panels, exceptional Flemish and Italian Baroque paintings, and the zenith of Swiss 19th- and 20th- century art, represented by the best known works of artists such as Johann Heinrich Fuseli and Ferdinand Hodler. Alongside these is work by the Zurich Concrete artist Richard Paul Lohse and more recent Swiss artists such as Pipilotti Rist and Peter Fischli / David Weiss.

International works of significance include the largest collection of paintings by Edvard Munch outside Norway and important paintings by Picasso and the Expressionists Kokoschka, Beckmann and Corinth. There is also a significant group of works by Claude Monet, including two of his water-lily pictures, and the museum includes a Chagall Gallery. Modern artistic trends are represented by Rothko, Merz, Twombly, Beuys, Bacon and Baselitz.

A further extension building is scheduled to be realized by 2015 that also aim at creating more space for the growing collection. The new international works of significance will be French Painting and the Impressionism.