Museum Tinguely

Opened on 3 October 1996 Museum Tinguely in Basel is an art museum, in a permanent exhibition shows the life and works of the artist Jean Tinguely.

The museum is located in Solitude Park on the right bank of the Rhine and is a gift of F. Hoffmann -La Roche AG to the city and the region of Basel on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the company. In addition to the permanent collection and changing exhibitions of guest Tinguely's friends or famous artists are held.

The museum building

The building was designed by Swiss architect Mario Botta. Found in the Central Hall alone up to twenty works of Tinguely's place. A special feature is the south side of the museum - a long, elevated building, which seems detached from the main part. It is a kind of promenade on the banks of the Rhine, which must pass the museum visitor, his gaze is then directed to the river.

The high wall on the east side, which is the highest point of the building with three exhibition floors above ground, acts as a noise barrier to the adjacent road bridge. The northern side runs parallel with the Grenzacherstrasse. Here we have created between the road and the museum a covered space as access to the park and the museum. The museum consists of five interrelated building structures, of which open three oversized windows facing the park. Inside the museum space is divided by walls that can be raised. The exhibition spaces are made up of four different character areas together on four different floors. On the first floor is accessed via the "Rhine Promenade"; which is open on one side to the ground floor and has on the other exhibition spaces. From the end of this passage you have access to another floor with "classic" rooms. From here we descend into a floor three feet below the ground floor, in whose premises the works are housed, which do not require sunlight to showcase their effect. The visitors' tour ends on the ground floor at the " monumental sculptures ". They are at the largest exhibition space of the museum (30 x 60 m), which can be divided into five areas.

The Collection

The museum's collection comes from a generous donation by the artist Niki de Saint Phalle 's widow, from the collection of Roche and several other major and minor donations and purchases.

In the museum's collection works of all phases and groups of works by Jean Tinguely are represented. Together with loans they allow museum visitors a comprehensive overview of the artist's oeuvre. In addition to the sculptures, a large number of drawings and letter drawings, documents, exhibition posters, catalogs, documentation and photographs are included in the collection. All work is - if possible - to the public and are regularly shown both in the permanent exhibition at the Museum Tinguely as well as on loan to exhibitions all over the world.