Kunsthaus Zürich has always been one of my favorite museums to view art in the almost countless times Henry and I have been Zürich, he on business. This was our first time to be here during our world travels, and we had the pleasure of seeing the subtle changes that have taken place in the museum during the many years we have been absent from this interesting city. I have always seen the museum with its contemporary addition; however, the collection has since been rearranged with the Alberto Giacometti Stiftung relocated from the top floor of the contemporary wing, to the ground floor. The size and shape of some of the galleries have been changed, and my favorite Robert Delaunay painting, Formes Circulaires c. 1930 no longer has pride of place in a vaulted gallery, but is installed at eye level in one of the galleries near works by the artist’’s contemporaries. An elegant reorganization of the ground floor spaces has placed the museum’s shop inside a rectangular space near the garderobe, an intelligent arrangement. Its low wooden barrier, confines the books, catalogues, postcards, etc. within a sleek,  minimalist space, a wrap-around counter,  an improvement that takes into consideration marketing aspects and the flow of traffic. One of the wonders of visiting the museum is seeing and appreciating the original building designed by the architect, Karl Moser, revered as the “father of Swiss Modernism”. An architect and a visual artist, an eclectic and a chameleon, his work is said to “combine the formal structure and power of American Modern Romanesque with the floral spirit of Jungenstil ornamentation, the sculptural quality and energized space and structure of the Baroque with classical calm and simplicity, and the historical reference with the iconoclasm of Neues Bauen or “New Buildings.”* The Kunsthaus Zürich opened in 1910, celebrating its centennial in 2010 with an exhibition of the architect’s work. However, the premier exhibition (October 15, 2010 - January 30, 2011) is devoted to Pablo Picasso, a revision of his first museum exhibition,

that was curated by the artist and mounted at the museum in 1932. The original show, attracting 34,000 viewers, was a crucial moment in the history of modern art. A very personal presentation of 100 works, Picasso chose to exhibit paintings from his rose period, blue period, his Cubist and neo-classical phases as well as Surrealist creations, causing the local psycho-analyst, Carl Jung, to comment upon the show by classifying the artist as a schizophrenic. The current exhibition reconstructs this subjective survey and contains  70 of the 100 works exhibited in 1932. These paintings, gathered from celebrated international collections, offer an overview unique to Kunsthaus Zürich, long considered to be one of the most important museums in Switzerland and Europe.

*Neues Bauen or “New Building” is a term given to the Modern architecture that emerged in Europe, primarily in German speaking Europe in the 1920’s and 30’s. Also known as Neue Sachlichkeit or New Objectivity or New Sobriety, the architects of this movement remodeled many German cities  before being forcibly stopped by the Nazi seizure of power in 1933. 

PHOTOS: Left Column: 1. The Kunsthaus Zürich, contemporary wing. This photo, taken from the top of three levels depicts the diversity of the museum’s holdings. Cy Twombly sculpture and paintings are on the middle level. Sculptures and paintings by Georg Baeslitz,  paintings by A.R. Penck, Anselm Kiefer, Alex Katz, and others on on the lower level, the most recent contemporary art in the collection. 2. Painting by Max Beckman (1880-1950) “Portrait, Max Reger”, 1917.  3. René Magritte (1898-1967), “Le seize September” (The 7th of September, 1956. 4. Robert Delaunay (1885-1941)  “Formes Circulaires” Circular Forms, 1930   Top, Center:  Wassily Kandinsky  (1866-1944), “Blau-Rot” (Blue-Red) 1922. Top,Right: Giacometti sculpture. his attenuated figures his signature style. One of several exhibition galleries dedicated to the Stiftung  or Foundation Alberto Giacometti exhibiting  a collection of his sculpture, paintings and drawings. Middle Right: Paintings in the PICASSO exhibition at the Kunsthaus Zürich. L-R:  “Sleeping Woman in a Mirror”, 1931, “Young Woman with Mandolin”, 1932, and “The Yellow Belt: Marie Therese Walter, 1932 .  Bottom, Center: Picasso Poster depicting the artist at the age of 51 c. 1932, the date of his exhibition at the Kunsthaus Zürich, his first museum exhibition.  Bottom, Right: Installation of the mumeum’s collection in the modern art galleries of Kunsthaus Zürich: Painting (background) by Picasso (1881-1973) entitled Grand Nu (Large Nude) 1964. Visually juxtaposed to this painting is the Jean Arp sculpture in the foreground.

Photo Credit:  Middle Right photo: REUTERS/Amd Wiegmann