LUZERN.- «Where do you come from?» – this can be a problematic question, depending on the context. For provenance research, however, it is a major question. This year’s Collection Exhibition illustrates how works find their way into the Kunstmuseum Luzern. It deals with questions related to the origins of works of art and to expanding the collection despite limited financial means. How do donations come about? What is a living will? How is the permanent loan of a work contractually regulated? The conditions under which works arrive in the museum are as diverse as the history of their origins.

The exhibition presents some of the ways art gets into the collection using terms such as «acquisition», «permanent loan», «homeland», «in situ», «leftover», «provenance» and «donation».

The works by Irma Ineichen, Otto Lehman, Rudolf Blättler or Ugo Rondinone show how a person’s lifeworld or homeland influences their art. These works, for example, can be ascribed to “inner-Swiss inwardness”, a concept referring to a tendency towards introversion on the Central Swiss art scene in the early 1970. This was expressed thematically through the depiction of inner states, images, atmospheres and sentiments. Atelier in Paris by Irma Ineichen, for example, reflects a retreat into the studio and a focus on her immediate surroundings. Otto Lehmann’s vigorous lead pencil drawings point to psychological upheavals and tensions.

«In situ» brings together works that are linked to a place. Restoration was photographed by Jeff Wall while he was preparing his exhibition at the Kunstmuseum Luzern in 1993. The artist staged the start of the restoration of the Bourbaki Panorama. Rémy Markowitsch‘s video Exploseum engages with the history of exhibition making at the Kunstmuseum Luzern and with the former museum building.
«Acquisition», «permanent loan» and «donation» provide insight into the museum’s operations, given that collecting is one of our main tasks. The Kunstmuseum Luzern has an annual acquisition budget of SFr 50.000 at its disposal. In view of the staggering prices on the art market, this is an extremely modest sum. So the museum is dependent on support, works on permanent loan and donations from the public sector, foundations, private persons or artists.

One room is devoted to the theme of «provenance». Provenance research looks into the origins of works of art. The exhibition presents, among other things, cases in the Kunstmuseum’s collection that have not been completely clarified. On the basis of a current restitution request, we indicate how the museum proceeds in its search for a just and fair solution.

With Ian Anüll, Karl Ballmer, Ferdinand Baudrexler, Rudolf Blättler, Katinka Bock, Louise-Cathérine Breslau, Luciano Castelli, Lovis Corinth, Maurice de Vlaminck, Raoul Dufy, Roland Duss, Terry Fox, Anton Henning, Ferdinand Hodler, Hans Holbein d.J., Monika Kiss Horváth, Irma Ineichen, Otto Lehmann, Max Liebermann, Urs Lüthi, Rémy Markowitsch, Aristide Maillol, Max Pechstein, Louis Léopold Robert, Ugo Rondinone, Erna Schillig, Leni von Segesser, Paul Signac, Chaïm Soutine, Paul Thek, André Thomkins, Felix Vallotton, Max von Moos, Jeff Wall, Ilse Weber, Rolf Winnewisser.

Kunstmuseum Luzern
Where do you come from?
How art enters the collection
February 24th - November 17th, 2024
Curated by Alexandra Blättler