Kunstmuseum Basel
Along with the various excursions to towns and villages around Scotland this year, there was also a trip to Europe, travelling down the river Rhine. A flight to the Netherlands and from there a plane to Basel in Switzerland, resulted in spending two days before setting off, taking in the sights and sounds of a wonderful city. This visit happened to coincide with the start of the UEFA European Women’s Championship football tournament, and the hotel was just next to the fan zone, so it was very busy. To celebrate the occasion, the city had changed the green man on the pedestrian crossings to a woman kicking a football which was a nice touch.
The weather was in the mid-thirties so quite hot. The Rhine was full of people allowing the current to take them gently along. This was achieved with a large bag into which their towel and change of clothes, wallet, keys and phone for example, can be safely stored. and on closing it captures air, allowing it to be used as a float. All along the river there are easy access points with stairs to get in and out of the water. Quite a sight. I even saw someone with their dog sitting quite happily in a small dinghy, bobbing alongside their owner.
Other highlights included visiting the city walls, seeing houses dating back to the 1200’s and visiting the point where Switzerland, France and Germany intersect. It’s marked by a tall, silver spike which looks to my mind like a very thin, rocket and is pretty cool thing to see.
There are dozens of museums of art and culture so due to limited time I chose to visit the Kunstmuseum which has the oldest public art collection in the world, dating from 1661. With a collection including old masters from the 15th to 18th centuries, 19th century classical modernism, and art from 1960’s onwards, it is one of the most significant collections to be viewed anywhere.
With so much to see and so little time, being selective is key. I purchased a small guidebook detailing what the organisers consider the most important pieces in the collection, and once I had placed my water bottle into a locker (as you can’t carry such items around for obvious reasons) I set off. My focus was on impressionist and surrealist art, as that is where my interest lies, and I wasn’t disappointed.
Highlights for me as I made my way around the labyrinth of corridors and rooms was The Poet (1912) by Pablo Picasso, along with his Woman Reclining on a Divan (1961), Woman with Hat Seated in an Armchair (1941-42), and The Young Ladies on the Banks of the Seine, after Courbet (1950). I recalled before I started writing these blog posts, my visit to the Picasso Museum in Barcelona where I enjoyed a great many of his works. I can thoroughly recommend a visit.
Other Painting (1925) by Joan Miro, Father Rhine (1953) by Max Ernst, The Market (1892) by Paul Gauguin, View of Mount Sainte-Victoire from Les Lauves (1904/06) by Paul Cezanne, along with his Banks of a River (1904). I also saw A Corner of l’Hermitage, Pontoise (1878) by Camille Pissarro, and The Snow-Covered Boulevard de Pontoise in Argenteuil (1875) by Claude Monet. There was also The Rock Needle and the Porte d’Aval (1884) by Monet and At the Racecourse (The Races) by Edgar Degas from 1861/62. I also took in a Renoir entitled Landscape near Essoyes (Landscape with two Figures on the Grass) painted in 1892.
Van Gogh is another favourite of mine, so I was fortunate to see Self-Portrait with a Japanese Print from 1887, along with his View on Paris from Montmarte (1886). I was stunned to see Marguerite Gachet at the Piano (1890). I had only performed a quick search on what was on display, and I don’t think the results were entirely accurate (such is the state of AI today), so this was a real surprise. It is one thing viewing a painting in a book or online, but to stand in front of the canvas and imagine he did the same when stepping back to view his own work, is quite something. It’s a long, tall painting and narrow in comparison to what is typically on display, so it really stands out and you are immediately drawn to it on entering the room. It has become an immediate favourite of mine.
Readers of this blog will know I’m a huge fan of Dali, so to be able to see for the first time, The Burning Giraffe (1936/37) was a real treat. It is a lot smaller than I had imagined, which is understandable having only ever seen it in a book. It was painted during the Spanish Civil War and in the background, there is a giraffe engulfed in flames. Dali described this image as “the masculine cosmic apocalyptic monster,” and can be viewed as a premonition of war. The symbolism depicts the fear and uncertainty of the times, and his own paranoia and anxiety. Two female figures are also depicted, the one in the foreground featuring wooden drawers, opening from her side similar to what you would expect from a dressing table. The other figure is holding a strip of meat. The use of blue, both for the sky and the main figure are unsettling, suggesting a brooding, twilight atmosphere. It’s a powerful painting and I’m delighted to have viewed it in-person.
Also by Dali was Perspectives (Premonition of the Paranoic Perspectives through Soft Structures) from 1936/37. This painting is classic Dali, with a dreamlike desert landscape stretching far into the horizon, peopled with seemingly random figures in odd poses, some by themselves, others in groups. Surrealism at its best, with its juxtaposition of dream and reality.
One of the nice things about visiting a place for the first time is seeing something unexpected and on this day it was Sunset in the Mist by an artist called Felix Vallotton painted in 1911. I didn’t know his work until this point, so it was good to discover him. I really enjoyed the impression of the contrast between the blue mist (which looked like the sea to me) and then the bright orange and reds streaked across the sky, with the sun depicted as a red dot in the centre of the picture. It was abstract but instantly recognisable. I also enjoyed the abstract work of Sam Gilliam entitled Through Expanses (1968).
To finish off I saw Ten-Foot Flowers (1967-68) by Andy Warhol, which again was a first viewing for me.
On leaving I took a walk over to a separate building across the road to see the current art that was on display. This is where the most up to date work is housed. A lot of this is abstract in the extreme and is not for everyone, but I enjoy these experiences.
I could easily spend a week there, taking in all there is to see, so I must do what I can in the time available. I’m delighted with what I managed to view, having mainly seen these works in books and in some cases discovering them for the first time. If ever in Basel I thoroughly recommend a visit.
The Fiction Factory 