Aargau house of art

The Aargauer Kunsthaus (Aargau Art House) is a Swiss art museum in Aarau, the capital of the canton of Aargau. Founded in 1959, it ranks among the most important art museums in Switzerland, distinguished by its extensive holdings of Swiss art from the late 18th century to the present day and by a nationally and internationally oriented exhibition program. The institution is jointly supported by the canton of Aargau and the Aargau Art Association, which traces its origins to 1860.

The museum's roots lie in the Aargau Art Association, founded in 1860 as a section of the Swiss Art Association. The association organized the first Swiss Art Exhibition in 1861 in the former Postremise in Aarau, and from these biennial exhibitions the association and the canton regularly acquired works, laying the foundation for the collection. For decades the growing collection lacked a permanent public home, being displayed variously in the Schlössli Aarau, government buildings, and private houses. A museum building was proposed as early as 1887, and in 1895 the Aargau Industrial Museum opened, housing the art collection among other cantonal collections, but space remained inadequate. In 1937 the cantonal government launched a competition for a new building that would unite art museum and cantonal library, yet construction only began in 1956. The Aargauer Kunsthaus finally opened in 1959. In 1962 a formal agreement between the canton and the association established their ongoing cooperation: the canton took ownership and maintenance of the building, while the association retained responsibility for the collection and exhibitions. The museum's profile sharpened considerably under director Heiny Widmer (1974-1984), who used the freedoms granted by a new cultural law and the founding of the Aargau Curatorium in 1969 to move beyond a primarily regional focus and acquire works by previously overlooked artists such as Louis Soutter, Emma Kunz, and Karl Ballmer. Beat Wismer, director from 1985 to 2007, continued to fill gaps in the 20th-century collection, notably strengthening holdings of constructive and concrete art. The museum expanded in 2003, and since 1 July 2020 it has been directed by art historian Katharina Ammann.

The Aargauer Kunsthaus holds more than 21,000 works, constituting one of the most comprehensive public collections of Swiss art from the 18th century to the present. Its acquisition policy has historically aimed to purchase works by contemporary artists whose longer-term art-historical relevance could be attested. The collection spans from the late 18th century through early modernism, expressionism, and surrealism, to constructivist and concrete art, and on to contemporary practice. Key strengths include 19th-century works by Caspar Wolf and Johann Heinrich Füssli; early modernist pieces by Ferdinand Hodler, Giovanni Giacometti, and Cuno Amiet; Swiss expressionists including Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Albert Müller, and Hermann Scherer; Zurich Concrete artists such as Max Bill, Verena Loewensberg, and Sophie Taeuber-Arp; and contemporary figures including John M. Armleder, Silvia Bächli, Eric Hattan, Fischli/Weiss, Mai-Thu Perret, Pipilotti Rist, Ugo Rondinone, Teresa Hubbard and Alexander Birchler, Taiyo Onorato and Nico Krebs, Shirana Shahbazi, Christian Marclay, and Silvie Defraoui. Since 2017 the museum has increasingly incorporated digital mediation formats, including augmented reality and video-based projects.

Among the notable works in the collection are pieces by Alberto Giacometti, Jean Tinguely, Richard Long, and the artist duo Fischli/Weiss. The museum's holdings of constructivist and concrete art, significantly expanded during Beat Wismer's directorship, represent a particular institutional strength. The collection also includes important works of expressionism and surrealism that were acquired to remedy earlier gaps in the museum's 20th-century coverage.

The original museum building was constructed from 1956 to 1959 to a design by the Baden architects Loepfe, Hänni & Haenggli. By the 1980s this structure had reached its spatial limits due to collection growth. In 2003 an extension designed by the Basel architecture firm Herzog & de Meuron, in collaboration with Rémy Zaugg, was opened. The extension incorporates distinctive architectural elements of the existing building, such as the spiral staircase, achieving a harmonious integration of old and new structures. The addition created further exhibition space as well as facilities for depots, art education, and a reference library. The foyer, with its café and bookshop, opens the museum to the city through a transparent facade. The building is listed as a Swiss cultural property of national significance.

The Aargauer Kunsthaus is located in Aarau, Switzerland, and is jointly operated by the canton of Aargau and the Aargau Art Association. The museum maintains an active exhibition program that balances its collection-based activities with temporary exhibitions. Its annual flower exhibition, in which contemporary florists interpret selected works from the collection, has proven particularly popular, attracting around 18,000 visitors within six days in 2025 and setting a new attendance record of 18,706 visitors in 2026. The museum's official website is aargauerkunsthaus.ch.