Evening scene in Basel with Roche Tower. Photo: Switzerland Tourism
BASEL, THE ARTS CITY SECOND TO NONE Like no other city in Switzerland, Basel radiates wealth, luxury and, of course, art. As the world’s most prestigious art fair, the Art Basel, is staged once more in June, it’s time for our writer Wibke Carter to explore the vibrant metropolis for Discover Germany, Austria & Switzerland.
Ever since the city fathers bought 20 Hans Holbein paintings in 1661, Basel has had a long standing patronage of the arts, which has resulted in some first-rate museums, galleries and contemporary architecture.
TEXT: WIBKE CARTER
FINE ARTS I couldn’t suppress an amused grin when I noticed St George fighting a dragon smaller than the saint’s horse on the façade of Basel’s Minster. “Why is the dragon so tiny?” I asked my guide, Elsa Martin. “We just don’t have a lot of evil in the city,” she replied. I wasn’t quite sure if she was pulling my leg, but in famously neutral Switzerland, maybe she wasn’t that far off. Evidently, Basel was built less on wars and more on wealth. A stroll through the narrow, cobblestoned alleyways and past venerable buildings opens up the city’s long history which stretches back over 2,000 years. The attractive location on the Rhine River attracted the Celts in the 36 |
Issue 94 |
June 2022
Bronze Age before the Romans made Basel an important trading point. Its prosperity was associated first with silk weaving then with dyeing and both economic mainstays went on to evolve into the pharmaceutical and chemical industry, which laid the foundations for its reputation as the country’s wealthiest city.
Fondation Beyeler. Photo: Wibke Carter
When three of Basel’s gallery owners began collaborating in the late 1960s, they had no way of knowing that they were paving the way for the world’s most prestigious art fair, Art Basel, founded in 1970. The event’s global significance has been enhanced by further locations such as Miami Beach (since 2002) and Hong Kong (since 2013). One of the original organisers, art dealer Ernst Beyeler, started his own collection from the classical modern and contemporary periods in the 1950s, and made it accessible in 1997. The Fondation Beyeler, Basel’s finest gallery, features works by Picasso, Rothko, Rodin, Miró and others. The building alone,
