Fondation Beyeler

A museum in a park, on the edge of Basel, since 1997

Museum of modern and contemporary art; more than 400 works in the collection

MUSEUMS

Fondation Beyeler
Baselstrasse 101, 4125 Riehen/Basel
fondationbeyeler.ch

Covers: details of works in the collection by Claude Monet, Vincent van Gogh, Henri Rousseau, Paul Klee, Wassily Kandinsky and Edgar Degas (public domain, reproductions from Wikimedia Commons)

A long, low building with reddish walls beyond a ploughed field, under a blue sky

Renzo Piano's building, 127 metres long, seen from the countryside of Riehen

Photo: MayaSchmieder, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0

The museum

The Fondation Beyeler in Riehen, on the edge of Basel, preserves and shows the collection that Ernst and Hildy Beyeler built up over more than fifty years: more than 400 works from Impressionism and Post-Impressionism through classic modernism to contemporary art, from Cézanne, Monet and Van Gogh to Picasso, Matisse, Miró, Giacometti, Rothko and Gerhard Richter, together with some 25 works of art from Africa, Oceania and Alaska. A third of the galleries is reserved for temporary exhibitions. In 2024 the museum had 389,188 visitors. Sam Keller has been its director since 2008.

Ernst and Hildy Beyeler

From 1940 Ernst Beyeler (1921–2010) worked in an antiquarian bookshop in Basel; in autumn 1945 he took it over, with financial help from his future wife Hildy Kunz (1922–2008). The first art exhibition, of Japanese woodcuts, was held in 1947; from 1951 the Galerie Beyeler showed modern art without interruption. In 1966 Picasso let him choose 29 works from his studio; in 1970 Beyeler was one of the founders of Art Basel.

In 1982 the couple set up the foundation; in 1989 the collection was shown to the public for the first time, at the Museo Reina Sofía in Madrid.

Renzo Piano's building

The museum, designed by Renzo Piano, opened on 18 October 1997 in the park of the Berowergut. It is 127 metres long: parallel walls clad in porphyry carry a glass roof that lets in natural light. Towards the busy Baselstrasse the museum is closed off by a porphyry wall; towards the park and the countryside it opens up with large windows. In 1999 the north gallery was extended by 12 metres, bringing the exhibition space to about 3,800 m².

The 18th-century villa of the Berowergut houses the restaurant. In autumn 1998 Christo and Jeanne-Claude wrapped 178 trees in the park: Wrapped Trees.

Peter Zumthor's new ensemble

In 2016 a jury chose Peter Zumthor's design for the extension in the neighbouring Iselin-Weber park. The new ensemble, which cost about 120 million francs, comprises three buildings: the Wyss Museum, with 1,500 m² of exhibition space on three floors and walls of rammed concrete mixed with Jura limestone; the Ammann Pavilion, a lounge open to everyone by day and a venue for concerts, talks, films and performances in the evening; and the Erlen Gatehouse, with offices and art logistics. The park has doubled in size to almost 20,000 m².

The opening is gradual from 26 September 2026, with the full opening in January 2027. The opening exhibition, «Constellations», shows 150 works in all the buildings and in the park until 5 September 2027.

Renzo Piano's building, 127 metres long, seen from the countryside of Riehen

Photo: MayaSchmieder, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0