Art Museum Basel, collectie

Kunstmuseum Basel is the city's public art collection, housed since 1936 in a main building on St. Alban-Graben and since 1980 also in the former church of St. Alban. Its holdings of paintings, sculpture, drawings and prints run from the 15th century to the present, with the 19th- and 20th-century galleries and the Kupferstichkabinett among its parts.

The collection began in the 18th century when a French art dealer acquired and assembled works for wealthy Basel families. After several renovations, the collection was permanently housed in its current building and placed under protection as a national heritage site.

The museum's name comes from the Basler family who owned the collection, not from a dealer; the Amerbach family's cabinet passed to the city in 1661, and the public gallery opened in 1671. The collection moved to the Augustinergasse building in 1849 and to the current St. Alban-Graben building by Rudolf Christ and Paul Bonatz in 1936.

The Kunstmuseum Basel stands on St. Alban-Graben, a short walk from Barfüsserplatz and the Marktplatz. The main building, the Neubau across the street and the Gegenwart annex are linked by an underground passage; allow half a day to cover all three. Lockers are available at the entrance.

The Kunstmuseum Basel grew from the Amerbach Cabinet, bought by the city in 1661 and thus one of the oldest municipal collections in Europe. Its 1936 building by Paul Bonatz was the first in Switzerland designed expressly as a museum, and the 2016 extension across St. Alban-Graben was paid for by the Laurenz Foundation.