BASEL.- 349,531 admissions in 2014 confirm that the Fondation Beyeler once again ranks as the best-visited art museum in Switzerland. Counting more than 170,000 visitors the Gerhard Richter show was a big favourite with the public in 2014. The next highlight, which opens on 8 February 2015, promises to be the Paul Gauguin exhibition comprising fifty works by the legendary French painter.

With 349,531 entries the Fondation Beyeler was able to raise attendance by 4.5 percent in 2014 (2013: 334’508 admissions), thus fulfilling the annual budget. Due to modifications in the program there was shift in visitor provenance. The increase in the number of visitors from German-speaking areas by 30 percent had a lot to do with Gerhard Richter, while there was a slight slump in the number of visitors from southern Europe. This, in turn, was offset by an increase of around 50 percent of the count of overseas visitors (+48.8 %, 9,264 admissions). The rise in the number of media representatives by almost 20 percent as against 2013 put the total at 4,207 visits by journalists. The number of guided tours remained stable at 1,614 (compared to 1,671 in 2013); the same goes for visits by school classes: 602 compared to 599 in the year before. The Fondation Beyeler is also the top address among the Swiss museums as far as social media are concerned. 894,065 people visited the Fondation Beyeler’s website; its Facebook community grew by 50 percent to now 40,000 followers; the museum’s YouTube channel, which offers interviews with curators and artists, also enjoyed great popularity, with the number of views rising by 250 percent to 119,372.

Clocking a total of 170,846 visitors Gerhard Richter turned out to be the most successful exhibition in Switzerland featuring a living artist. The show Gustave Courbet also passed the 100,000-mark, closing on 18 January with a total figure of 115,443 entries. The comprehensive show of works by the British artist Peter Doig is still on through 22 March 2015. The year 2014 was distinguished by numerous collaborative projects: with Art Basel and Theater Basel in the Live-Art show 14 Rooms; with the Zentrum Paul Klee for the first solo exhibition featuring works by Paul Klee held in the Pushkin Museum in Moscow; with the Nieuwe Kerk in Amsterdam which displayed Francis Bacon’s triptych In Memory of George Dryer from the Beyeler Collection; and, last but not least, with the internationally renowned performance artist Marina Abramovic who curated the performance show The Artist is an Explorer at the Fondation Beyeler and staged a further performance at the museum’s stand at Art Basel in Miami. A further and rare highlight of the year was Arvo Pärt’s visit to the museum shortly after being awarded the Praemium Imperiale prize to attend the premiere of the piece he composed in honour of Gerhard Richter.

In terms of collecting, too, 2014 was a remarkable year for the Fondation Beyeler, including top-class purchases of work groups by Gerhard Richter (four paintings and a sculpture), Thomas Schütte (sculptures and watercolours), and Wolfgang Tillmans. In addition the museum acquired single works by Marlene Dumas, Sarah Morris, Wilhelm Sasnal, and a sculpture by Richard Serra specially created for the Fondation Beyeler.

After a successful 2014 Fondation Beyeler looks forward to an equally promising 2015 commencing with Paul Gauguin’s masterpieces and followed by the exciting exhibitions Marlene Dumas and Kazimir Malevich.