Kunsthaus director Christoph Becker: Farewell after 22 years

The city of Zurich owes the Kunsthaus director David Chipperfield’s extension. Now, after 22 years in office, Christoph Becker says goodbye to Niki de Saint Phalle’s dancing Nanas.

Christoph Becker is leaving the Kunsthaus Zürich after 22 years as director.

Simon Tanner / NZZ

With a fresh and colorful retrospective on Niki de Saint Phalle, Christoph Becker bids farewell to the Kunsthaus Zürich. During his 22 years as director of the Zurich institution, he was responsible for a total of 18 exhibitions. Among them are some that are particularly well remembered. For example, the big one-man show in 2004, when Becker enabled the Zurich artist Urs Fischer, who was just over thirty, to make a brilliant appearance with the exhibition “Kir Royal” in the Bührle-Sahl.

Fischer is now an internationally renowned artist. For his part, Christoph Becker has repeatedly ensured that the Kunsthaus is international. He made many things possible that no one would have imagined when he succeeded Felix Baumann in 2000, coming from the Staatsgalerie Stuttgart. The city of Zurich owes him the extension designed by an international star architect: David Chipperfield’s art temple on Heimplatz also represents a kind of culmination of Becker’s career.

Lots of stamina

Christoph Becker has shown staying power – the long-distance run of the extension project took almost twenty years, Becker had put an initial concept for the Kunsthaus extension on paper in 2001. The refurbishment of the already existing parts of the Kunsthaus building and a successful new concept for the presentation of the collection were not forgotten.

But Becker also showed perseverance when it came to important additions to the Kunsthaus collections. The new building had to be filled with art, and so Becker tried to win over well-known Swiss collectors for their collections for his house. Today the Kunsthaus is enriched by the colorful collection of Werner and Gabrielle Merzbacher with 75 works of Expressionism and Fauvism. In addition, there is the Hubert Looser collection, which supplemented the in-house holdings of American post-war art.

Becker always kept an eye on the diversity of the departments and made sure that the impressive collection of old masters was constantly growing with 54 works of Dutch cabinet painting from the Knecht collection. Last but not least, it is thanks to Christoph Becker that the long overdue move of the important Zurich Bührle Collection from its sleepy location on Zollikerstrasse to the Kunsthaus could take place.

Popular art house

In doing so, the outgoing Kunsthaus director – probably to his own surprise – triggered a debate that was important for Zurich about the city’s role in the Second World War, but also about looted art, escaped goods and the arms trade. The time was ripe for it. The discussions will continue. Thanks are also due to Christoph Becker for this.

During the two decades of the Becker era, the Kunsthaus enjoyed growing popularity. This is evidenced by the number of members of the Zurich Art Society, which rose from 15,000 to 25,000 during Becker’s term of office. Not only spectacular exhibitions such as the unusual presentation of the collection of the art dealer dynasty Nahmad with works by Picasso, Matisse and Miró in 2011 contributed to this. Surprising themed exhibitions such as the 2012 show “A Winter’s Tale: Winter in Art from the Renaissance to Impressionism” or experiments such as “Fashion Drive: Extreme Fashion in Art” from 2018 set milestones. The presentation of the dazzling art of Niki de Saint Phalle fits into this varied picture.

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