The Kunstmuseum Basel is not only one of the largest exhibition halls in Switzerland, but it is also one of the oldest public art institutions. As early as 1661, the city of Basel acquired the private art holdings of the collector Basilius Amerbach and made them accessible to the public in 1671. Today, the collection of Kunstmuseum Basel houses around 4,000 paintings, sculptures, installations, and videos. It offers a representative cross-section of seven centuries of art history and is divided into six sections: The Old Masters Collection, the 19th century, Classical Modernism, Art from 1950 onwards, and an exhibition on Joseph Beuys and Classical Modernism in Basel. In addition, the museum includes a Kupferstichkabinett (Department of Prints and Drawings) with around 300,000 drawings and prints. The collections are spread across three buildings: The Haupthaus dating from 1936, the Museum für Gegenwartskunst, which opened in 1980, and an extension completed in 2016 - totalling an exhibition area of around 10,000 square metres. In 2013, the Kunstmuseum Basel was voted the fifth-best museum in the world by the "Times" of London.
The originals of the artworks shown here are on display at the Kunstmuseum Basel.
