The Collection.
From Claude Monet to Ferdinand Hodler, from Meret Oppenheim to El Anatsui

The Kunstmuseum Bern owns an important collection of art from the late Middle Ages to the present. The collection exhibition includes selected works from the holdings, presented in changing displays.

In the basement of the old wing the central avant-garde trends of modern art are represented with Cubism, Expressionism, Surrealism, and abstract art. Highlights include Violin Hanging on a Wall by Pablo Picasso, Meret Oppenheim’s Enchantment, or Piet Mondrian’s Tableau No. II with Grey and Black. The presentation is complemented by a selection of works by the Bernese artist Adolf Wölfli from the holdings of the Adolf Wölfli Foundation.

On the ground floor of the old wing, works by El Anatsui and Kader Attia as representatives of global contemporary art form the prelude. Two side cabinets are dedicated to highlights of Impressionist and Post-Impressionist painting. This includes, for example, Portrait de l’artiste au chapeau à large bord by Paul Cézanne, Tournesols fanés by Vincent van Gogh or La blouse bleue by Henri Matisse.The monumental painting Sunday in the Alps by Ernst Ludwig Kirchner and rural scenes by Swiss exponents of modern art such as Cuno Amiet and Ferdinand Hodler complete the exhibition.

On the ground floor of the new wing, the exhibition Panorama Switzerland. From Caspar Wolf to Ferdinand Hodler showcases highlights by 19th and 20th century Swiss artists from the collection of the Kunstmuseum Bern (till 5.7.2026). The exhibition is included in the general admission to the collection. On the upper floor, the exhibition Expressionism Foundation. From Gabriele Münter to Sam Francis presents masterpieces of German and Swiss Expressionism, along with expressive post-war positions, complemented by a selection of neo-expressionist works from the collection. The exhibitions areis included in the general admission to the collection.

The basement of the new wing brings together paintings by famous representatives of Abstract Expressionism – for example Jackson Pollock’s Brown and Silver II and Lee Krasner’s Forest no 2 – with works by concrete and abstract artists such as Sophie Taeuber-Arp or Max Bill (from March 28, 2026).