In the 1950s, enlarging the collection of modernist works and branching out into contemporary art emerged as a central objective of the Kunstmuseum’s collection-building program. A donation from the Schweizerische National-Versicherungs-Gesellschaft, a major insurer, enabled the museum to buy four works by exponents of Abstract Expressionism for the collection in one fell swoop. This acquisition of contemporary American art put the Kunstmuseum Basel on the map as one of the leading progressive art museums of the time.
The presentation at the Neubau takes the legendary 1959 purchase as its point of departure to illuminate foci of our collection of art of the second half of the twentieth century. Iconic works by the Abstract Expressionists and the Minimalists are contextualized with more rarely seen treasures and new acquisitions. Arranged in loosely chronological order, the exhibition in eight rooms features artists with similar interests in materials, creative techniques, or themes.
Shusaku Arakawa
Richard Artschwager
Carl André
John Baldessari
Georg Baselitz
Lynda Benglis
Joseph Beuys
Bill Bollinger
Lee Bontecou
Jonathan Borofsky
Alexander Calder
Eduardo Chillida
Sari Dienes
Dan Flavin
Sam Francis
Sam Gilliam
Guerrilla Girls
Shirley Jaffe
Jasper Johns
Donald Judd
On Kawara
Martin Kippenberger
Imi Knoebel
Sol LeWitt
Maria Lassnig
Roy Lichtenstein
Mario Merz
Bruce Nauman
Kenneth Noland
Claes Oldenburg
Blinky Palermo
Sigmar Polke
Jackson Pollock
Charlotte Posenenske
Robert Rauschenberg
Gerhard Richter
Ulrike Rosenbach
Dieter Roth
Mark Rothko
Kilian Rüthemann
Jan J. Schoonhoven
Richard Serra
Frank Stella
Clyfford Still
Mark Tobey
Cy Twombly
Andy Warhol
Lynette Yiadom-Boakye