How do I get to Fondation Beyeler from Basel?

Take tram number 6 from Basel city centre (SBB station or Marktplatz) directly to Fondation Beyeler — the journey takes about 20 minutes. The museum is also a 5-minute walk from Riehen station.

Is it worth the trip from Basel?

Absolutely — the Fondation Beyeler is consistently ranked among the finest small museums in the world. The combination of the permanent collection, the building, and the garden setting is exceptional. Most visitors spend 2–3 hours.

Can I combine it with Art Basel?

Yes — the Fondation Beyeler is closely associated with Art Basel (June). A visit to the Fondation is a standard complement to the fair. The museum typically stages a major exhibition timed to coincide with Art Basel week.

Europe

Fondation Beyeler

Basel · Switzerland · Founded 1997

One of the most beautiful private art museums in the world — a Renzo Piano building in a garden setting near Basel, holding a refined collection of Monet, Giacometti, Rothko, Bacon, and Warhol.

About Fondation Beyeler

The Fondation Beyeler was established by art dealers Ernst and Hildy Beyeler to house their personal collection — assembled over four decades of exceptional taste and acquisition. The building, designed by Renzo Piano and opened in 1997, sits in Riehen on the outskirts of Basel, its long horizontal form of red porphyry and glass integrated into the surrounding park and water basins.

The collection spans Impressionism, Post-Impressionism, classical modernism, and contemporary art, with exceptional depth in a small number of key artists. The museum holds four of Monet's Water Lilies panels, major Giacometti sculptures, significant Rothko colour-field paintings, and important works by Picasso, Miró, Léger, Francis Bacon, Andy Warhol, and Gerhard Richter. Loan exhibitions from the greatest private and institutional collections in the world make the Fondation among the most consistently rewarding venues for temporary shows in Europe.

Collections & Highlights

Four large Monet Water Lilies panels in a purpose-built gallery

Alberto Giacometti — the largest group of his sculptures outside the Giacometti Institute

Mark Rothko — large-scale colour-field canvases in natural light

Renzo Piano's architecture — one of the most harmonious museum buildings in Europe

Frequently Asked Questions

Zurich, Switzerland

Kunsthaus Zürich

A small ask before you go

You've just explored one of humanity's greatest collections of beauty. Art has the power to move us, inspire us, and change how we see the world. But millions of people will never see beauty like this — not because the art isn't there, but because they can't see at all.

Preventable blindness, caused by conditions like cataracts and trachoma, affects people of all ages across the world's poorest communities. A small gift — for the cost of a museum ticket — can provide a simple surgery to restore someone's sight and transform their life.

Donate to restore sight