The Best Art Galleries in Switzerland

One of Europe’s first museums dedicated to the preservation of photographic art, the Musée de l’Elysée holds over one million photos by Swiss photographers and many others from around the world. The Museum’s collection starts in the 19th century and includes contemporary work, with the variety of work on show ranging from photojournalism to fashion photography and even pictures take by amateurs. A particular gem is a collection of photos spanning the entire career of Charlie Chaplin while the museum building, an 18th-century villa overlooking Lake Geneva, is definitely worth snapping a photo of.

Dedicated to Bern’s Paul Klee, who is regarded as one of the most important artists of the 20th century, this museum holds 40 percent of the work he completed during his lifetime, which amounts to around 4000 paintings. Around 120-150 paintings are shown at any given time, with the paintings and the themes changing regularly. The undulating museum building is a curious work of art in itself and was built by Italian architect Renzo Piano to mimic the surrounding hilly terrain. The current exhibition, run jointly with the Kunstmuseum Bern, is dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the 1917 October Revolution in Russia and how it impacted Russian art.

The Kunstmuseum in Bern Switzerland’s oldest fine art museum with a permanent collection. It houses artwork from the Middle Ages to the present day and is home to pieces by Swiss artists from the 15th century onwards. Works by Botticelli, Manet, Picasso, van Gogh and Wassmer can be viewed alongside over 3,000 paintings and sculptures by other artists.

Mamco is Switzerland’s largest contemporary art gallery and is located in an old factory. Tucked away behind the city’s Plainpalais square, where a number of smaller art galleries can be found, you’ll need to dedicate at least two or three hours to get the most out of this gallery, as it covers four floors. You can also take advantage of the guided tours (available in English). One of the most striking pieces you’ll see is a bomb timer ticking away on the main staircase, counting down the time until the sun pops off and takes us, or our descendants at least, along with it.