Zürich is the right address for art lovers. Valuable, internationally renowned collections and fascinating temporary exhibitions draw visitors to the city from all over the world. Also of interest are the countless art galleries, many of which are located in the close vicinity of the Hotel Opera.
Kunsthaus Zürich
The Kunsthaus Zürich (Zürich Museum of Fine Art) presents a high-calibre collection of art, dating from the present-day right back into the 15th century. Besides Alberto Giacometti, Johann Heinrich Füssli and Ferdinand Hodler, contemporary Swiss artists such as Pipilotti Rist and Peter Fischli/David Weiss are also represented. The principal works of international significance include the largest Munch collection outside Norway, masterpieces by Picasso, pictures by Expressionists Kokoschka, Beckmann and Corinth, and important works by Monet and Chagall. Temporary exhibitions are held regularly.
Kunsthalle Zürich
The Kunsthalle Zürich shows often unfamiliar yet internationally significant contemporary art. The museum is situated on the site of the former Löwenbräu brewery in the close vicinity of the Museum für Gegenwartskunst (Museum for Contemporary Art) and a number of private art galleries. Here, new methods and ways of seeing and creating can be experienced through works by mostly young artists. In particular, individual presentations arise in close dialogue with the artists.
Museum Rietberg
The Museum Rietberg is the only art museum for non-European cultures in Switzerland, and exhibits an internationally renowned collection of art from Asia, Africa, America and Oceania.
Emil Bührle Collection
During the 20th century, the Zürich industrialist, Emil Georg Bührle (1890-1956), compiled one of the most important private collections of European art. At the core of the collection are French Impressionist and Post-Impressionist works. The central theme of the collection is the gradual evolution of a new artistic freedom from Impressionism onwards as the driving force behind Modernist painting in the 20th century. In 1960, the collector’s family placed a representative selection of some 200 pictures and sculptures in a foundation and opened it to the public. The foundation museum is housed in a villa adjoining Emil Bührle’s former home. The art collection is open to public always on the first Sunday each month.
Helmhaus
The Helmhaus shows contemporary art, with a main focus on works by Swiss artists. In the course of 10 to 12 exhibitions per year, this municipal museum presents modern-day works of fine art for discussion, either monographically or in themed collections.
More about art exhibitions, collections and galleries in Zürich:
(in German only)
