Brise d'été

The summer exhibition Brise d'été is conceived as a small “entre act” in the exhibition program of Kunst Raum Riehen. Paintings that capture summer in a variety of ways and awaken the desire for freshness are shown in the Garden Hall. Brise d'été gives us visual cooling in the summertime and leads our gaze to Mediterranean places. At the same time, we are bringing to light selected paintings from the Riehen art collection, which was established in 1934 and now comprises over 1000 works.

The paintings were created in the post-war period and well into the Cold War era. Out of these rather gloomy times, Riehen's artists went on trips to the sea, lakes and rivers and explored the cultures there. One of the earliest paintings is by Paul Basilius Barth (1881-1955) from 1949 and is entitled Bretonischer Strand. One of the later paintings from 1967 is by Faustina Iselin (1915-2010) and is called Maledetta Toscana. The landscape of the south and life by the water are the focus of the paintings on display. The colors blue, turquoise and azure dominate and awaken a longing for the vastness and tranquility of nature. The painting Felsenbucht (1956) by Walter Schüpfer (1903-1972), for example, shifts from figuration to abstraction: cliffs and sea complement each other to form a harmonious curve and, with the vibrant blue, is also reminiscent of the infinity of outer space. Other paintings bear titles such as Lagune, 1960 (Rudolf Wild-Bonifazi) or Kreta 1, 1975 (Hans Jakob Barth) – the landscapes, captured in painting, exude a relaxed summer feeling.

For the duration of the exhibition, ice cream from Gelateria di Berna will be on sale, which can be enjoyed on the veranda of Kunst Raum Riehen (Baselstrasse entrance), which is furnished with tables and chairs. Admission to the exhibition is free.

The exhibition will be closed on Saturday, July 19, 2025 and Friday, August 1, 2025.
Otherwise open during the regular opening hours of Kunst Raum Riehen.