Schaulager

The Schaulager is a private museum in Newmünchenstein, a sub-district of Münchenstein in the canton of Basel-Landschaft, Switzerland. Opened in 2003, it occupies a distinctive position in the international museum landscape as a hybrid institution combining the functions of public museum, art storage facility, and art research institute. Commissioned by the Laurenz Foundation and designed by the renowned Basel architectural office Herzog & de Meuron, the Schaulager was conceived as an open warehouse that provides optimal spatial and climatic conditions for the preservation of works of art. Its name, a contraction of the German words schauen (to see) and lagern (to store), encapsulates its founding purpose: to make stored art accessible for study and viewing. While primarily directed at a specialist audience of art professionals who can consult works throughout the year, the institution opens its first two floors to the general public for several months annually and hosts special events and temporary exhibitions.

The Schaulager was built in 2002-2003 under commission of the Laurenz Foundation, a foundation established in 1999 dedicated to the promotion and support of art. It opened its doors in 2003. The Laurenz Foundation has also endowed two academic positions connected to the institution. The Laurenz Assistant Professorship for Contemporary Art, established in 2002, places a corresponding emphasis on contemporary art in university research and teaching in Basel. Since autumn 2013, the Schaulager Professorship for Art Theory has been established at the Art History Seminar of the University of Basel. The institution has maintained a consistent programme of annual exhibitions since its opening, with a notable collaboration in 2018 with the Museum of Modern Art, New York, for the Bruce Nauman exhibition Disappearing Acts. Since 2015, the Schaulager has produced electricity through a photovoltaic plant on its roof; the energy cells cover 2300 square metres and have a peak output of 360 kW.

The collection of the Schaulager is largely based on the holdings of the Emanuel Hoffmann Foundation, which forms the heart of the institution. This foundation was established in 1933 by Maja Hoffmann-Stehlin (1896-1989), later known as Maja Sacher, wife of Paul Sacher. The museum holds more than 650 paintings, sculptures, installations, video works, and films by more than 150 artists. Early acquisitions include works by Robert Delaunay, Paul Klee, Max Ernst, and Hans Arp, now considered classics of modernism. In the 1960s and 1970s, the foundation acquired works by pioneering artists such as Joseph Beuys, Hanne Darboven, and Bruce Nauman. The Emanuel Hoffmann Foundation and Schaulager remain faithful to the original founding principle of 1933, trust in the future, by continuously acquiring art that is strongly oriented toward the future. More recent additions to the collection include works by Jeff Wall, Tacita Dean, David Claerbout, Andrea Zittel, Steve McQueen, and Toba Khedoori.

The collection spans from classic modernism to the present day, with particular strength in works acquired during key periods of avant-garde development. Early modernist holdings by Robert Delaunay, Paul Klee, Max Ernst, and Hans Arp represent foundational moments of twentieth-century art. The 1960s and 1970s acquisitions of Joseph Beuys, Hanne Darboven, and Bruce Nauman document the expansion of artistic practice into conceptual, process-based, and performative territories. Contemporary holdings include significant works by Jeff Wall, Tacita Dean, David Claerbout, Andrea Zittel, Steve McQueen, and Toba Khedoori. The annual exhibition programme has featured major monographic presentations including Dieter Roth (2003), Herzog & de Meuron (2004), Jeff Wall (2005), Tacita Dean and Francis Alÿs (2006), Robert Gober (2007), Andrea Zittel and Monika Sosnowska (2008), Matthew Barney (2010), Francis Alÿs (2011), Steve McQueen (2012), Paul Chan (2013), and Bruce Nauman (2018).

The Schaulager building, designed by Herzog & de Meuron, is located in an industrial area of Münchenstein. The five-storey structure is conceived as a rocky, closed box where light enters only through narrow slits. The architecture is deliberately oriented toward serving the art rather than the viewer. Walls more than fifty centimetres thick and the avoidance of daylight create optimal conservation conditions throughout the building, maintaining a constant temperature of 20°C and humidity at 50%. The entrance on the east side features an inviting, smooth white facade that adopts the forms of the gatehouse for the museum; two large LED screens on this facade display artworks during exhibitions. From the 28-metre-high entrance hall, visitors have an overview across all five floors. The three upper floors, used as storage spaces, administrative areas, and research rooms, have a total surface of more than 9000 square metres. The ground floor and lower floor offer 4300 square metres of exhibition space. The ground floor also houses the ticket desk, cafe, bookshop, and an auditorium with 144 seats.

The Schaulager is managed by the Laurenz Foundation as a private museum. It is primarily directed at a specialist audience, with art professionals being the only visitors able to consult the works on a permanent basis. The general public can access the institution during its annual opening period from April to October, when the first two floors are opened. Special events and temporary exhibitions are also organised for broader public engagement. The museum is situated in Newmünchenstein, Münchenstein, in the canton of Basel-Landschaft, Switzerland, near Basel. Its website is www.schaulager.org.