After preparations lasting more than two years, the Zug Art Society is founded in the Zug Casino on 1 December 1957. Its founding president is Dr Joseph Brunner; Dr Georg Schmidt gives the ceremonial address. This new, active society regularly organises lectures with top-class speakers. From time to time, it also organises exhibitions in galleries or improvised exhibition spaces. But its most important goal is to create a Zug Art Gallery – a “Kunsthaus” – with a collection of its own. Zug’s art-lovers are very enthusiastic. More than 500 people register as the Art Society’s founding members, and the number of visitors at its assorted events is gratifyingly high. Founding board: Dr Joseph Brunner, President Dr Peter Dalcher, Vice-President Prof. Paul Scherer, Treasurer Dr Hans Ulrich Kamer, Actuary Dr Emil Steimer, representative of the Cantonal Council Dr Augustin Lusser, representative of the City Council Dr Werner E. Iten, representative of the Gemeinnützige Gesellschaft Zug Dr Hans Rubli, representative of the Industrial Association Dr Marian von Castelberg Hanns A. Brütsch Ernst Freimann Armin Haab Leo Hafner Eugen Hotz
Dr Peter Dalcher assumes the presidency of the Zug Art Society.
In the Neujahrsblatt for 1966 (the “New Year’s brochure”), Dr Joseph Brunner and Leo Hafner present their project for an Art and Congress Centre on the Schützenwiese in Zug. It reveals a vision for a “classical” art museum with a scholarly, didactic collecting policy. However, their proposal fails to garner the necessary support.
The Zug Art Society celebrates its 10th anniversary with a “Kasernenfest”, an event that introduces the public to the notion of converting the city’s army barracks – which are only in use for a few weeks each year – into a gallery. The response is very positive.
A project study proves that it would be feasible to convert the barracks into an art gallery. However, the Zug City Council regrettably refuses to give up its barracks at this time. Later, the building is turned into the Library for the City and Canton. At short notice, Prof. Paul Scherer spontaneously takes on the presidency of the Art Society in the place of Dr Peter Dalcher, who has accepted a lecturing position at the University of Fribourg.
Rainer Peikert assumes the presidency of the Zug Art Society.
On 2 June, the exhibition Fritz Wotruba is opened in the Burgbachkeller with an address by Fritz Hochwälder. The guests at the opening event include numerous representatives of the city and canton alongside personalities such as Fritz and Lucy Wotruba, J.R. von Salis, François Bondy and Manuel Gasser.
The Zug Art Society organises its first exhibition in a public space: Siegenthaler / Müller-Brittnau, held at the Landsgemeindeplatz and in the old “Kaufhaus” (a former merchant house from the Renaissance era). This promotes the idea of setting up an art gallery in the old town. The first Zug Art Market, held in the run-up to Christmas in the Burgbachkeller, is very well received by the public.
Dr Louis Bossard, a psychiatrist from Zug, donates a representative group of works by Adolf Wölfli to the Zug Art Society. This donation gives rise to an exhibition with a concurrent series of lectures. It is a significant step on the path to developing the concept for the Zug collection that was adopted in 1978.
Under the title The Landsgemeindeplatz, for example, exhibitions and events shed light on the past and future of this historic site. The Zug City Council unanimously approves the funding for an expansion of the “old Kaufhaus” into a temporary art gallery.
The Kunsthaus Zug opens in the old town on 26 November 1977 with an exhibition entitled: Art from Zug from the Romantic Era to the Present Day. An administrative office is established that organises the running of the Kunsthaus with the aid of much voluntary work on the part of board members and their partners. Guest curators are called in to help organise more demanding exhibitions.
The Zug City Council grants an annual sum of CHF 40,000 for the collection. This leads to the development of a collection concept focusing on regional art, and in particular on surreal and fantastic art from Switzerland.
On 5 September, the Foundation of the Friends of the Kunsthaus Zug will be launched in the Zurlaubenhof as the sponsorship for the definitive Kunsthaus Zug. The foundation officially began its activities in 1982. The founding members are: Margrit Hotz-Schaller, President Dr. Hans-Peter Fisch, Vice President Dr. Urs Birchler, Representative of the Government Council Dr. Karl Bühlmann Dr. Elisabeth Dürst Valérie Hackel Walther A. Hegglin Annemarie Hotz Dr. Rudolf Jäckli Dr. Othmar Kamer, Mayor and Representative of the City Council Christa Kamm Fanny Notz Hegglin Rainer Peikert, President of the Zuger Kunstgesellschaft Dr. Willy Rotzler Paul O. Scherer
The Zug Art Society celebrates its 25th anniversary with the exhibition STEIN – Stone Sculptures in the 20th Century.
The foundation “Friends of the Kunsthaus Zug” is able to purchase the building “Hof im Dorf” with the help of financial contributions from the city and canton.
Lucy Wotruba presents the Zug Art Society with the permanent loan of Large Sculpture (1972) by her husband, the sculptor Fritz.
In the project competition to design an art gallery at the Hof im Dorf, the proposal by Prof. Franz Füeg is selected and developed further. The project itself is funded from the assets of the foundation “Friends of the Kunsthaus Zug” and is also supported by a generous contribution from the Landis & Gyr Cultural Foundation of Zug.
The Cantonal Council and the Zug City Parliament approve their contribution to the building and operating costs of the new Kunsthaus, with no dissenting votes. Construction begins in the late summer.
The new Kunsthaus Zug is opened on 26 May 1990 with the exhibition Swiss Art 1900 to 1990 from Swiss Museums and Public Collections. The response to the exhibition is considerable, extending far beyond the borders of the home canton, and enables the Kunsthaus to intensify its existing close contact with many other Swiss art museums. The management structures of the Kunsthaus are also professionalised. The young art historian Matthias Haldemann is appointed to run it. Together with the Kunsthaus board – which remains as committed as ever – he develops a multifaceted programme that is outside the mainstream but tailored to the specific circumstances of Zug.
Dr Karl Bühlmann assumes the presidency of the Friends of the Kunsthaus Zug.
Armin Haab, founding member of the Zug Art Society, bequeaths the Kunsthaus Zug a collection of Classical Modernist works. The Kunsthaus Zug presents a major retrospective of the complete oeuvre of Fritz Wotruba, thus reaffirming its longstanding commitment to an artist who was so significant for the cultural life of Zug.
Hans Peter Gnos assumes the presidency of the Zug Art Society.
After long, intensive preparations, art education is definitively integrated in the operations of the Kunsthaus Zug.
The “Project Collection” is launched with Tadashi Kawamata and Richard Tuttle. It focuses on establishing long-standing collaborations with internationally renowned artists. The “Project Collection” signifies a reorientation of the Kunsthaus collection, and is very well received in Zug. In the years thereafter, the Kunsthaus Zug is able to win over further renowned artists to collaborate on the Project, including Pavel Pepperstein, Olafur Eliasson, Tim Velten, Christoph Rütimann and Roman Signer.
The exhibition Dialogue with Modernism presents the Kamm Collection to the public – a collection in which Fritz Wotruba played a major role. It is part of the project “The Art of Collecting” by the Swiss Art Association (the Schweizer Kunstverein). At the same time, the ownership of the collection is transferred to a foundation and is from now on housed in the Kunsthaus Zug. Together with the bequest of Armin Haab, this means that the Kunsthaus Zug has a substantial collection of works of Classical Modernism, and the largest group of works of the Viennese Modernists outside Austria. Dr Matthias Michel assumes the presidency of the Friends of the Kunsthaus Zug.
The exhibition Homage to Josef Herzog pays tribute to one of Zug’s most significant artists from the latter half of the 20th century.
The positive development of the Kunsthaus Zug means that it has reached the limits of the space available to it. Initial ideas about expanding its premises lead both to the “Inside Outside” concept and to “Kunsthaus Zug Mobile”. As in the case of the “Project: Collection”, this means that the Kunsthaus Zug is moving some of its activities back into the public space.
The foundation “Friends of the Kunsthaus Zug” commissions an initial study to determine whether it is possible to extend the Kunsthaus, and to set in motion the necessary decision-making processes. Martin Elbel assumes the presidency of the Friends of the Kunsthaus Zug.
Dr David Thiel assumes the presidency of the Zug Art Society. The “Museum Project” invites interested members of the public to become involved in the decision-making processes regarding the concept for the future Kunsthaus and its location. Based on initial clarifications, the Board of the Friends of the Kunsthaus Zug decide in favour of extending the existing location. The Kunsthaus Zug accordingly embarks on the appropriate preliminary work.
The valuable collection now housed at the Kunsthaus Zug enables it to organise an exhibition that sets a new benchmark: Harmony and Dissonance. Gerstl – Schoenberg – Kandinsky. Painting and Music in a State of Change. This interdisciplinary collaboration with different institutions across geographical and disciplinary boundaries leads to numerous events and collaborations, e.g. with the Schönberg Center in Vienna, the Lucerne Festival, Pierre Boulez and the Lucerne School of Music.
Three anniversaries are celebrated: 50 years of the Zug Art Society; 25 years of the foundation “Friends of the Kunsthaus Zug”; 5 years of “Kunsthaus Zug Mobile” The Annual General Meeting nominates the artists Tadashi Kawamata (Paris) and Walther A. Hegglin (Zug) as honorary members. The Kunsthaus Zug celebrates its origins with the exhibition Skulptur ohne Eigenschaften. Hommage an Fritz Wotruba (“Sculpture without Qualities. Homage to Fritz Wotruba”) on what would have been the artist’s 100th birthday. With the Project: Collection, Olafur Eliasson – Lava Floor, the Kunsthaus also points into the future. The first-ever “Kulturlandsgemeinde” (“cultural assembly”) takes place in Zug, with an anniversary programme entitled Himmelblau und Abendrot (“The blue of the sky and the red of the sunset”).
Peter Boesch assumes the presidency of the Zug Art Society. After more than four decades, Rainer Peikert steps down from the board of the Zug Art Society. He has shown a great sense of commitment and played a decisive role in the successful development of the Kunsthaus – supported as always by his wife Susanna. Peter Kamm dies unexpectedly. As a friend, patron and President of the Kamm Collection Foundation, he has made a major, lasting contribution to the Kunsthaus Zug.
The Moving Museum, the fourth and (provisionally) final exhibition by Olafur Eliasson for the “Project: Collection” is conceived in the light of the expansion plans for the Kunsthaus Zug. The collection of the Kunsthaus Zug grows considerably with a large group of works by Roman Signer, donated by Peter and Christine Kamm-Kyburz. There are further donations by Roman Signer himself, by Olafur Eliasson and by Eugen Hotz, some of which are from the estate of Annemarie and Eugen Hotz. A large group of works of Classical Modernism is donated to the Kamm Collection Foundation. Dr Alexander Jolles assumes the presidency of the Kamm Collection Foundation.
The Kunsthaus Zug celebrates 20 years at Dorfstrasse 27, and Matthias Haldemann similarly celebrates 20 years as the Director and curator. The exhibitions Der Schatz am Zugersee (“The Treasure of Lake Zug”) in the spring and Kunstlabor (“Art Laboratory”) in the autumn present the broad spectrum of works in the collection of the Kunsthaus Zug as an experimental “treasure trove”. Emilia and Ilya Kabakov present Kaaba – their idea of a public archival collection as a living, mysterious treasure trove. In late autumn, the Kunsthaus Zug opens the exhibition LINEA. From Outline to Action. The Art of the Line from Antiquity to the Present Day. Together with the accompanying publication that appears at the same time, this exhibition attracts major national and international attention. Expanding the Kunsthaus at its existing location has proved unfeasible, as has a proposal to build a new Kunsthaus on the site of the Schützenmatt High School. So the various Kunsthaus committees – in consultation with representatives of the city and canton of Zug – decide to locate the new Kunsthaus Zug on the site of the old cantonal hospital. Eighteen late works on paper by Oskar Kokoschka from the estate of Hans Ulrich Kamer are donated to the collection by Lilly Keller-Kamer. The Friedrich Kuhn Collection Consortium, founded in 1987 to help the Kunsthaus Zug to acquire a large, representative group of works by Friedrich Kuhn, is liquidated and donates four more works by the artist to the Kunsthaus. In late December, Peter Dalcher dies. He was the vice-president of the founding board of the Zug Art Society, a member of the board from 1957 to 1994, and a highly respected figure.
A dialogue with a neighbouring museum takes place for the second time. The exhibition is entitled: Solothurn meets Zug. Highlights from two collections. The percussionist Fritz Hauser from Basel, the architect Boa Baumann and the light artist Brigitte Dubach turn the Kunsthaus into a place of music with the exhibition Klanghaus Zug (literally “Sounding house Zug”).
Andres Brütsch assumes the presidency of the Friends of the Kunsthaus Zug. A study is commissioned to investigate the development of the site of the old cantonal hospital. It features a “New Kunsthaus Zug” on a central plot earmarked for public use. The exhibition Rudolf Maeglin – Working in Colours signifies the rediscovery of an impressive oeuvre that illuminates the industrial developments of the 1930s, using Basel as a case study. With hand lauf kunst haus zug (literally “hand rail art house zug”), Christoph Rütimann initiates an artistic video journey along the structural changes being made in the process of expanding the Kunsthaus. Christina Viragh is awarded the 2009 Zug Translator’s Scholarship for her translation of Parallel Stories by Péter Nádas. This leads to a momentous collaboration with the Dialog-Werkstatt in Zug. The Hungarian writer and photographer Péter Nádas deals with the relationship between words and images in a comprehensive biographical exhibition, and donates his photographic archive of some 900 individual prints to the Kunsthaus Zug along with books, writings and archival materials. Generous loans from the Leopold Collection in Vienna enable the Kunsthaus Zug to hold the important exhibition Alfred Kubin – The Last Adventure. It is boosted by works from the Kunsthaus’s own collection, and by a separate exhibition commemorating the 150th birthday of Gustav Klimt. The artist Annelies Štrba donates 29 photographs to the Kunsthaus Zug from her work cycle Shades of Time, 1983-1996.
Dr Marcos Garcia Pedraza assumes the presidency of the Zug Art Society. The exhibition Shades of Time, the second monographic exhibition devoted to Annelies Štrba’s oeuvre since 2001, leads visitors into the current time and also features works by three younger artists: Anna-Sabina Zürrer, Lukas Hoffmann and Markus Kummer. The exhibition Schraffurhaus Zug (literally “Shading house Zug”) by Fritz Hauser and Boa Baumann demonstrates once again the Kunsthaus’s delight in experimentation as a kind of art laboratory. Works are loaned from the Musée cantonale des Beaux-Arts de Lausanne for the exhibition Canton Vaud visits Zug that brings the flair of French Switzerland to Zug. The works on loan are exhibited in dialogue with works from the Kunsthaus collection. The Large Glass – Bethan Huws is an impressive example of how an art collection created over time can develop new facets and be invigorated through contact with contemporary art. As an example of the Kunsthaus Zug’s regular practice of loaning out its artworks, Koloman Moser’s Zebra Box travels to the USA to be exhibited at the New Gallery in New York and at the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston.
Dr Christine Kamm-Kyburz assumes the presidency of the Zug Art Society on an interim basis. Dr Roland Bruhin assumes the presidency of the Friends of the Kunsthaus Zug. Thanks to the generosity of Swiss collectors, the impressive exhibition “I am beginning to forget”. Ilya Kabakov and Swiss Collections is held to celebrate the artist’s 80th birthday. After an extensive preparatory period, the exhibition And away with the minutes. Dieter Roth and music is held in collaboration with the Basel Music Academy and Edizioni Periferia Lucerne. It offers insights into the boundless labyrinth of Roth’s imagination, with some 200 exhibits and an extraordinary concert entitled Rarely Heard Music at the Zug Casino, together with Christian Ludwig Attersee, Walter Fähndrich, Hermann Nitsch, Gerhard Rühm and Oswald Wiener. The Roth exhibition is subsequently shown in altered form at the National Gallery and the Hamburger Bahnhof in Berlin, and is visited by some 70,000 people.
Dr Richard T. Meier assumes the presidency of the Zug Art Society. Rainer Peikert, the former president of the Zug Art Society, dies after a long illness. The Annual General Meeting elects Heinz A. Hertach and Christoph Luchsinger as honorary members. To celebrate 25 years of Kunsthaus Zug and 20 years of art education at the Kunsthaus, the six exhibitions of the 2015 programme are dedicated to the museum’s own collection. During the anniversary celebration, the sculpture Seesicht (“Lake View”) by Roman Signer is inaugurated on the lakeside promenade in Zug. The artist donates six early sketches of his initial ideas for water projects to the Kunsthaus. Another special feature during the anniversary year is an exhibition by the art education department entitled Collection by Request. Favourite Works. Some 130 people present works to the public that they have themselves selected from the Kunsthaus’s holdings. The Sonja Graber and Christian Graber collections are generously donated to the Kunsthaus Zug, featuring 170 works by Adrian Schiess, Bernhard Schobinger and Annelies Štrba. They are being exhibited for the first time. Further donations are made over the ensuing years by both Christian Grabner and the artists themselves.
The Annual General Meeting elects Christa Kamm and Christine Kamm-Kyburz as honorary members. The Kunsthaus exhibits the life’s work of Pravoslav Sovak, spanning 70 years. This is the first retrospective of the artist shown by any Swiss museum. He moved to Switzerland from the former Czechoslovakia in 1969 and today lives in Hergiswil. The Ship of Tolerance by Ilya and Emilia Kabakov is a global participatory project on the themes of tolerance and respect for foreign cultures and ideas. This continues the Kunsthaus’s productive collaboration with these two artists. It aims to set an example at a time of great political difficulties across the world. It has some 2,500 participants in total and attracts great attention and support from both the authorities and the general public. Children, young people and adults all give visual expression to messages on the topics of tolerance and respect by designing one of roughly 1,000 pieces of sail. Some of them are used as flags on the ship, while others are used for additional installations in the city and in other municipalities. After an opening festival in Zug and Cham that lasts two days, the ship sails for a month on Lake Zug and is subsequently presented at the Zug Trade Fair before being made accessible on land at the Brüggli for another five years. The exhibition zuwebe visiting. Collection by request (2) is held in collaboration with the zuwebe Foundation. People from Zug with different disabilities are invited to engage creatively with works of their choice from the Kunsthaus Zug collection. This exhibition shows the results of that engagement.
Walter Hebeisen dies in December. A former board member of the Zug Art Society, he was closely involved with art and the Kunsthaus until his death. The Kunsthaus is closed for three months during the summer so that urgent renovation and maintenance work can be undertaken on the building. Thanks to the generous sponsorship of the Eugen and Annemarie Hotz Foundation, new lighting can be installed in the exhibition halls. During this time, Christoph Rütimann places a room-sized, hollow wooden sphere on a tall, white cubic pedestal, entitled Curling up in a Ball. It is part of the multi-year “Project: Collection”. Celebrations are held in Baar and Zug to mark the 100th birthday of Eugen Hotz, with an exhibition at the Kunsthaus Zug Mobile next to the Rathus-Schüür. The first-ever overall exhibition of the work of the textile artist Christa de Carouges is held. She describes this opportunity to host a retrospective at the Kunsthaus Zug as the highpoint and conclusion of her professional career. The exhibition is documented on film by Remo Hegglin. At the opening, the artist unexpectedly receives a diagnosis of incurable cancer. She dies on 17 January 2018. The exhibition receives an immense response in the media and a record number of visitors that pushes the Kunsthaus Zug to the limits of what it can cope with logistically. Her estate donates a group of dresses by the artist and most of her jewellery to the Kunsthaus in 2019.
Reto Fetz, a longstanding member of the board, assumes the presidency of the Zug Art Society. To celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Kamm Collection Foundation, the Kunsthaus Zug organises the exhibitions Vienna to Europe and From the Collection to the Collection. Contemporary Interpretations of Historical Works. In his exhibition Author on the Road, Péter Nádas shows his latest photographic work consisting of digital images and videos. In a research project lasting seven years, a working group from the Kunsthaus has collaborated with students and experts to examine relationships between art and humour. Comedy of Existence, Art and Humour from Antiquity to the Present Day assembled an art history of humour from the Ancient Greeks to our own time, using vases, pamphlets, journals, drawings, paintings, sculptures and videos. The exhibits feature works from the Kunsthaus’s own collection alongside some 350 works from roughly 100 lenders in Switzerland and the rest of Europe. To accompany the exhibition, the Kunsthaus publishes the first-ever comprehensive scholarly publication on the topic.
Dr Christine-Kamm Kyburz passes away shortly after the turn of the year. She was a distinguished member of the board and an honorary member, and as such she helped to shape the fate of the Kunsthaus over several decades. She provided expertise, generous donations, and an immense commitment and sense of responsibility. Thomas Stoltz assumes the presidency of the Friends of the Kunsthaus Zug. In the summer, Roman Signer is a guest, exhibiting his latest works in the “Project: Collection (5)”. A major attraction this autumn is the exhibition My Mother Country. Paintings of the Aborigines – Collection of Pierre and Joëlle Clément, Zug, together with Emily Kame Kngwarreye – Works from Australian Private Collections. A group of works by Indigenous Australian artists is donated to the Kunsthaus collection by Pierre and Joëlle Clément and Chris Simon of Australia. Subsequent to his donation of his entire oeuvre in 2012, Péter Nádas donates 147 digital and Polaroid photographs and three videos to the Kunsthaus Zug. The friends of Pravoslav Sovak and Elmar and Annemarie Wohlgensinger donate 352 printed works of graphic art by Pravoslav Sovak to the Kunsthaus Zug. After the artist’s death in 2022, the collection is completed by a donation of works and many printing plates from his estate. Ten paintings by Richard Gerstl go on loan to the Gerstl retrospective at the Leopold Museum in Vienna that has been prepared in collaboration with the Kunsthaus Zug. The Zug leg of the exhibition is delayed due to the pandemic.
The pandemic prevents a festival celebrating “35 Years of Kunsthaus Zug” from taking place. However, the humorous installation by Bethan Huws, I’ve forgotten to feed the cat is able to be erected as planned along the outside wall in 2019/20. Temporary exhibitions are postponed and replaced by thematic exhibitions with works from the Kunsthaus collection: BeZug and Influx from Eastern Europe. Fifty-five Viennese Modernist works are sent on loan to the first temporary exhibition in the new building of the Musée des Beaux Arts in Lausanne. The Bündner Kunstmuseum in Chur exhibits 42 sketches by Roman Signer from the Kunsthaus Zug’s collection.
The exhibition Time and Space. A homage to Christine and Peter Kamm is held in memory of these two collectors from Zug. It documents their patronage of contemporary art in Central Switzerland, their appreciation of the applied arts of Viennese Modernism, and their attachment to the Klöntal in Canton Glarus. To close the exhibition, Roman Signer organises an “action” in memory of his two collecting friends and shoots a red ribbon into the sky above Zug. Twenty-seven Viennese Modernist works are sent on loan to the Klimt exhibition at the Historisches und Völkerkundemuseum in St. Gallen (today known as the “Kulturmuseum St. Gallen”). The exhibition book includes a scholarly study of ornament in the work of Klimt and Schiele by Matthias Haldemann. After the pandemic, the installation Hütte (“Hut”) by Thomas Schütte is presented in the Daheimpark in the presence of the artist. It is accepted with gratitude by the residents of the neighbourhood.
The exhibition Everything and Nothing. Japan and Modern Art until Today is very well received by the public. It features numerous works on loan from the Kulturmuseum St. Gallen and an extensive accompanying programme. It is held under the patronage of the Japanese Ambassador in Switzerland, who visits Zug to carry out the official opening. The installation The Last Stroke, or Monument to the Last Man (2019) by llya and Emilia Kabakov is presented at short notice after this work by these US-Ukrainian artists had to be dismantled in Moscow and brought out of the country on account of the outbreak of war in Ukraine. Emilia Kabakov travels to Zug from the USA to attend the opening. Ilya and Emilia Kabakov donate this important work to the Kunsthaus Zug. The art educator Lyudmila Harvey holds workshops for Ukrainian refugee children and exhibits their paintings at the Kunsthaus Zug. The Gemeinnützige Gesellschaft of Canton Zug, Oskar Weber Fonds, helps the Kunsthaus to acquire a light object by Olafur Eliasson. The retrospective Richard Gerstl. Inspiration – Legacy, which shows his works in dialogue with works by contemporary artists, was prepared in collaboration with the Leopold Museum in Vienna and postponed several times. It can now be shown belatedly in Zug. The accompanying scholarly publication was already published in 2019. This joint exhibition, held in Vienna and Zug, underlines the international significance and topicality of this little-known artist of early Viennese Modernism. The renowned British art history journal, Burlington Magazine, publishes a positive review of the exhibition in Zug. A painting by Gustav Klimt is sent on loan to the Klimt exhibitions at the Van Gogh Museum Foundation in Amsterdam and the Belvedere National Gallery in Vienna. After several years of scholarly research, the book My Mother Country, Aboriginal Dot Painting, edited by the Kunsthaus Zug, is published in Berlin to document the 2019 exhibition of Aboriginal art. It is distributed worldwide. Michael Schnüriger assumes the presidency of the Friends of the Kunsthaus Zug.
The exhibition In the Mood for Colour, Works from the Collection. Paul Klee to Olafur Eliasson brings together the most diverse works of art, organised according to specific colours. What might seem familiar is now able to be seen in a new way, and seeing is made a conscious act. This unusual exhibition attracts a broad public and is highly appreciated by artists. The retrospectives Jan Jedlicka and Guido Baselgia – The Materiality of Light and the Colours of the Air thematise the relationship between photography, painting and colour. Baselgia lived and worked in Canton Zug for 40 years, and here presents for the very first time his colour pictures made with a camera obscura. Works by the artists are acquired by the collection, both as purchases and as donations. Groups of works by Florin Granwehr, Brigitte Moser and Max von Moos are exhibited, all of which were donated to the collection. Besides its own holdings, the Kunsthaus Zug is given 16 paintings and 125 works on paper by von Moos from the collection of Peter Thali of Lucerne, and 12 paintings and some 180 works on paper from the von Moos Foundation (also of Lucerne). This makes the Kunsthaus Zug a major centre for the work of von Moos, the most important artist from Central Switzerland of the 20th century. Roman Signer donates his object Taucher (“Diver”) and his installation Runder Raum (“Round Space”). A bronze sculpture by Friedrich Kiesler is acquired from the USA. The Canton and City of Zug enable the Kunsthaus Zug to use a display depot owned by the company TechCluster of Zug, which will be accessible periodically from 2024 onwards. With some of the funds for transformation projects provided by the Canton and City of Zug during the pandemic, the innovative, participatory website The Transparent Museum is developed in collaboration with international experts. Besides presenting the archive of the collection, future processes at the Kunsthaus Zug will be communicated continuously in the future. Honorary member Christoph Luchsinger dies. Joëlle and Pierre Clément, Christian Graber and Emilia Kabakov are all made honorary members.
• Bulletins and annual reports of the Zug Art Society • Minutes of the board and foundation board meetings • Zug New Year’s brochures