
The phenomenon of epoch-spanning artistic parallels and how they stimulate the imagination is the focus of Pairings. This exhibition shows some twenty juxtapositions of paintings, sculptures, and photographic works from the Museum’s own collection with selected objects from the private Im Obersteg Collection.
The exhibition will remain in constant motion. During the twelve-month run, new artworks will regularly be added, while others are removed. The ever-changing configuration of the collection will thus develop its own choreography.
Selected pairs of works are accompanied by brief observations written by people in and outside the art world. Music, too, is an integral part of Pairings. In a collaboration with the Foundation for Young Musicians Basel, up-and-coming musicians have recorded selected compositions to accompany certain pairs of works. Visitors can listen to the music through headphones on benches in front of the artworks. The occasion for the Pairings exhibition is the porcelain anniversary of the Im Obersteg Foundation and the Kunstmuseum Basel: the renowned private collection has been on deposit at the Kunstmuseum Basel for exactly 20 years. In regularly scheduled re-hangings, new works by other artists will be added to the exhibition and others removed.




The Öffentliche Kunstsammlung Basel, the municipal art collection of Basel, dates back to 1661, when the city acquired the Amerbach Cabinet. It grew steadily over the centuries, necessitating several relocations within Basel. The Hauptbau on St. Alban-Graben was inaugurated in 1936. A first enlargement came in 1980, when the Kunstmuseum Basel | Gegenwart opened its doors; a third venue, known as the Neubau, was added in 2016.

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