Friendly Contributions Centenary of the Friends of Kunstmuseum Bern Society

To date the Society has purchased more than 300 works by 91 artists. The exhibition shows about one third of the works that it has bought since 1920. A number of them can be viewed permanently at the museum while others can be seen again for the first time at the museum since a long while. Among them are many paintings, several sculptures and objects – and of course drawings. In more recent times, photographs too make up part of the Society’s holdings. Although a few individual artworks date back to earlier epochs, most of the pieces were produced in the 20th century. Often the pieces were purchased at exhibitions on location directly from the artists.

The exhibition is presenting a selection of the Society’s acquisitions. It features eminent paintings by Josef Albers, Cuno Amiet, Arnold Böcklin, Adolf Dietrich, Giovanni Giacometti, Albrecht Kauw, Paul Klee, Félix Vallotton and Caspar Wolf as well as Germaine Richier’s bronze sculpture Fechterin mit Maske (Fencer with a Mask) and Markus Raetz’s oak sculpture Mimi. Oleg Vassiliev is represented by one of his paintings and a body of drawings. Also on display are works on paper by Albrecht Schnider, photographs by Balthasar Burkhard and reverse glass paintings by Silvia Gertsch.

Other works as of December
At the beginning of December we will be partially re-hanging the exhibition. Then drawings by Camille Corot, Augusto Giacometti, Juan Gris, Giorgio Morandi, Edvard Munch, Karl Walser and others, as well as a woodcut by Franz Marc will be on view to the public.

The volume FREUNDESWERKE: 100 Jahre Verein der Freunde Kunstmuseum Bern 1920–2020 has been published for the exhibition. It documents the acquisition activities of the Society and presents the collection with a wealth of illustrations.

Curators
Marianne Wackernagel, head of the prints and drawings collection at the Kunstmuseum Bern and curator of the exhibition.

Marie Therese Bätschmann, vice-president of the Friends of Kunstmuseum Bern Society, editor of the centenary volume.

With the generous support of
The Canton of Bern, Credit Suisse, Ursula Wirz Foundation, Klinik im Spiegel, Bernhard and Mania Hahnloser Sarpakis, Sabine and Andreas Tschopp Hahnloser

Contact
Maria-Teresa Cano
Head of Communication and Public Relations Kunstmuseum Bern – Zentrum Paul Klee , Tel.: +41 31 328 09 44

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