Van Gogh to Cézanne, Bonnard to Matisse. The Hahnloser Collection Opening: August 10, 6:30pm Kunstmuseum Bern www.kunstmuseumbern.ch From late in the summer of 2017 until the spring of 2018, the Kunstmuseum Bern is mounting an exhibition of veritable masterpieces by leading artists from Van Gogh, Cézanne, Renoir, and Redon through Hodler, Giacometti, Vallotton, and Bonnard to Matisse, Marquet, and Maillol. As one of the hitherto most comprehensive exhibitions of the former Hahnloser Collection, it presents an overview that brings together the important paintings, sculptures, and works on paper of French modernism and the Swiss avant-garde. Until Villa Flora in Winterthur opens its doors again to the public, the Kunstmuseum Bern has at its disposal over the next few years the top-notch artworks of the Hahnloser/Jaeggli Foundation as long-term loans. This is an exceptional stroke of luck and we owe this honor not least to the close ties between the Kunstmuseum Bern and the Hahnloser/Jaeggli Foundation. “Vivre notre temps” and “Revolution Coffee” A large part of the former collection went to the Hahnloser/Jaeggli Foundation, which was established in 1980. The foundation comprises some 300 works of art—with not only paintings and sculptures but also numerous watercolors as well as drawings and prints. The exhibition at the Kunstmuseum Bern The exhibition also gives insights into the ways in which the Hahnloser Collection is linked to the Kunstmuseum Bern. For example, the son of the collector couple, Hans Robert Hahnloser, was not only a professor of art history but likewise a member of the board of directors of the Kunstmuseum Bern. By donating pieces of the family collection to the Kunstmuseum Bern, in the 1930s he was able to convince the members of the board to expand the Kunstmuseum’s collecting activities to include also French art subsequent to impressionism. The exhibition has been augmented with the further highlights of a film and an exhibition room dedicated to Villa Flora, where Arthur and Hedy Hahnloser-Bühler created a Gesamtkunstwerk in which they combined life and art in a highly unique way. Curator: Matthias Frehner, Director Collections Kunstmuseum Bern – Zentrum Paul Klee |