The Tinguely Museum, located directly on the Rhine, was designed by the Ticino architect Mario Botta and houses the largest collection of works by Jean Tinguely (1925-1991), one of the most innovative and important Swiss artists of the 20th century.
The permanent exhibition presents a comprehensive overview of four decades of his career. Special exhibitions are hosted regularly and present a wide range of artists and subjects based on Tinguely's ideas.
The Swiss sculptor Jean Tinguely was born in Fribourg on 22 May 1925. After going to school in Basle, he began an apprenticeship as a shop-window decorator in a department store in 1940. He then studied at the Kunstgewerbeschule in Basle from 1941 to 1945, a period during which he discovered the art of Schwitters and Klee as well as becoming an enthusiastic fan of the Bauhaus.
Tinguely began experimenting with movement in space in 1944 with his machine-like sculptures by equipping them with electric motors and making them spin around at high speed. His works conquered the world. Tinguely married the artist Niki de Saint-Phalle, a close friend of his, in 1961.
Basel got a new landmark in 1977 when Jean Tinguely placed some amusing machine sculptures in an enormous pool of water on the site where the stage of the old city theatre was once located and hence the famous Tinguely Fountain.
The Swiss artist had black asphalt poured into a shallow basin before placing these low power-operated, water-spouting objects in it. These nine iron eminences are in constant motion and “talk” to each other just as did the mimers, actors and dancers who once performed at this very spot.
As we were visiting Basel in the 20th year of Jean Tinguely's death anniversary; we were lucky to witness the procession of the famous tinguely tractor 'Klamauk'...They took it out on the streets after 20 years; it was last taken out at Jean Tinguely's funeral procession.
Jean Tinguely died in Bern on 20 August 1991.
