The third and final exhibition of our collection, marking the 20th anniversary of the Fondation Beyeler, dares to take a look into the future. It celebrates the museum’s cooperation with private collections, as well as with artists and their estates. Cooperations shows, by example, how our collection can be supplemented and augmented by potential donations or long-term loans. Of the more than 170 works of art and historical objects on view, dating from the 16th to the 21st century, about half come from distinguished partners who are closely allied with the Fondation Beyeler. The temporary joining of superb and rarely exhibited works with famous pieces from the Beyeler Collection enables the public to imagine an ideal museum, a musée imaginaire.
The exhibition begins with a Wunderkammer or Kunstkammer, which is evocative of the origins of the contemporary museum. The following rooms recall the salons of the intellectual elite frequented by Degas, Matisse and Picasso, as well as the historical and experimental presentations of the Surrealists led by André Breton. They provide examples of how modern art was originally exhibited. In the second half of the 20th century, rooms painted in a neutral white advanced to become the standard that still dominates museums and galleries today. Here, in a variation on this “white cube,” artists of Abstract Expressionism, Zero and Pop Art enter into a dialogue with one another. In addition, rooms are devoted to artists Louise Bourgeois, Gerhard Richter, and Peter Doig. The beginning and end of the exhibition are formed by works by Maurizio Cattelan and Felix Gonzalez-Torres, while the midpoint is marked by Marina Abramovic. As a whole, the exhibition is shaped by artists who have established new ways of presenting art.
The exhibition was curated by Sam Keller and Ulf Küster, Fondation Beyeler.
Scenography, graphic design and exhibition architecture were provided by Martina Nievergelt, Thorsten Romanus, and Dieter Thiel.
We cordially thank the exhibition's cooperation partners: the Daros Collection, Anthax Collection Marx, Collection Renard, Easton Foundation, Yves Klein Estate, Roy Lichtenstein Foundation, Felix Gonzalez-Torres Foundation, Musée Barbier-Mueller, Peder Lund, Michael Werner Gallery, and furthermore, the contributing major private collections and artists from Europe and America.
JUNE 10 – SEPTEMBER 3, 2017
In 1997, these examples of classic modernism and contemporary art, assembled with meticulous care from the 1950s onwards by dealers and collectors Ernst and Hildy Beyeler, were given a home in the new museum building, designed by Renzo Piano, in Riehen/Basel. Here they remain on permanent public display, in varying presentations, together with works subsequently donated by the founders. The collection of the Fondation Beyeler is constantly extended with carefully chosen purchases, donations, partnerships and long-term loans.
“Remix”, the second exhibition devoted to the Beyeler collection as a whole, provides an overview of its current activities and holdings. New acquisitions in recent years have augmented the previous collection with an additional focus on contemporary developments. Facilitating a dialogue between newly acquired works and the existing collection is a major criterion in decisions on purchases and the acceptance of loans. “Remix” seeks to provide a varied platform for this dialogue.
To mark the twentieth anniversary of the Daros Collection, the partnership between Daros and the Fondation Beyeler is celebrated with a presentation of outstanding works by Andy Warhol from the Daros Collection.
The exhibition is curated by Theodora Vischer, Senior Curator of the Fondation Beyeler.
Some of the works described in the room guide are not on display throughout the entire duration of the exhibition.
INTRODUCTION with THEODORA VISCHER
Introduction with senior curator Theodora Vischer.
Artist Talk with Wilhelm Sasnal
Artist Talk with Wilhelm Sasnal and Hans Ulrich Obrist on the occasion of the exhibition «Collection Beyeler / Remix».
Interview with Wilhelm Sasnal
Interview with the artist Wilhelm Sasnal on the occasion of the exhibition «Collection Beyeler / Remix».
February 5 - May 7, 2017
In 2017, the Fondation Beyeler is celebrating its 20th birthday with three special exhibitions of its collection. During the course of the year, the Beyeler Collection will be shown from three different perspectives: with a look back at the first exhibition, with a look at the present, and with a forward gaze.
«The Original«
The first exhibition pays homage to the museum’s founders, Ernst and Hildy Beyeler, by reconstructing the collection’s original hanging at the Fondation Beyeler’s inauguration twenty years ago. It will thereby highlight the founders’ view of their own collection and document the point of departure for the subsequent presentations.
The exhibitions of the Beyeler Collection marking the Fondation Beyeler’s 20th anniversary are generously supported by:
Beyeler-Stiftung
Hansjörg Wyss, Wyss Foundation
Dr. Christoph M. Müller und Sibylla M. Müller
Basler Kantonalbank
Bayer
ISS Facility Services
Einführung durch Raphaël Bouvier (Kurator)
«Die Rekonstruktion dieser ersten Ausstellung der Sammlung Beyeler zeigt den speziellen und sehr eigenen Blick von Ernst Beyeler auf seine eigene Sammlung«
Interview mit Prof. Gottfried Boehm
«Es war ihm ein Anliegen die Starken Persönlichkeiten der Bilder untereinander und mit dem Besucher ins Gespräch zu bringen.« Prof. Dr. Goffried Boehm