From the Antiquarian Bookshop to the Fondation Beyeler

It was 1952 when Ernst Beyeler and his wife Hildy renamed their art and book antiquarian shop at Bäumleingasse 9 in Basel to “Galerie Beyeler,” thereby laying the foundation for a unique career. This led to the establishment of the Beyeler Foundation in 1982 and culminated in 1997 with the opening of the Fondation Beyeler, which today ranks among the most important and beautiful art museums in the world.

Galerie Beyeler Sets Standards

It was impressive with what consistency the business was expanded. Initially, and certainly also under the impression of the art historian and museum director Georg Schmidt, Galerie Beyeler was clearly focused on German art. The most important painters of Expressionism, but also Käthe Kollwitz, Edvard Munch, Alexej von Jawlensky were well represented at Beyeler, complemented by French master prints of the 19th and 20th centuries. Contemporary and local artists, some of them friends, were also part of the programme from the beginning.

In 1952 and 1953, “Bilder des 20. Jahrhunderts” and “Tableaux français” followed as the first, still small catalogue booklets, which stood entirely in the tradition of graphic inventory catalogues. The selection and artistic quality set a standard that allowed no compromises. Boldly, they wanted to play in the top league right away and purposefully followed their own convictions. Art should endure, should always inspire anew, had to prove itself over a longer period of time. A preference for the not too commonplace or easily pleasing, for difficult pictures, was recognisable early on.

The 1950s were characterised by the determined expansion of the art dealership, with French painting increasingly setting the tone. The trade in artworks was based on a simple rule of thumb: for every work sold, two new ones are acquired. Ernst Beyeler began to travel more frequently. Munich, Stuttgart, Cologne, and Paris were his most important destinations. The London auctions were attended with increasing regularity. Hildy Beyeler watched over the finances in Basel and managed the small staff. By the end of the 1950s, the address at Bäumleingasse was long since no longer an insider tip. In addition to local clientele, more and more Americans made a detour from Paris to the promising summer exhibitions at the gallery. The catalogue series “Maîtres de l’art moderne (1955–1958)” in particular bears witness to this.

The Art Dealer Became a Museum Man

North America became an extended business territory and Ernst Beyeler encountered G. David Thompson from Pittsburgh, who first appeared as a client, later as a seller of his legendary collection of modern art. He was known as a notoriously unpredictable collector and enjoyed great attention in the art scene. Ernst Beyeler was therefore assured of the respect of the renowned New York galleries. By selling entire blocks of works from the Thompson collection to museums, Ernst Beyeler made a name for himself, whose prestige would henceforth open all doors. Great attention was paid to the placement of Klee works in Düsseldorf or the Giacometti sculptures in the Giacometti Foundation founded specifically for this purpose in Zurich. Long before his own collection began to take shape, another facet of the art dealer Beyeler thus emerged as a museum man.

Ernst Beyeler became a friend of museums, to which he facilitated many acquisitions. Later he initiated entire exhibitions and actively supported them.

Yet all this fame never made him forget his modest beginnings. The most important thing was and remained the demanding quality of a work of art. He generously shared this love with his clients, visitors and later with his museum staff. In doing so, the view of the essential, of nature, inner balance, of political and ecological aspects was never obscured. Everything loud and bustling is sought in vain in the rooms on Bäumleingasse, which in their medieval modesty always gave priority to art.