Art Basel: Museum Talk: The Rise of the Single-Artist Museum

On the varied landscape of art museums, a particular kind of museum stands out for the clarity and focus of its mission: the single-artist museum. Such museums often steward the legacies of famed national icons. Although usually modest in size, they are frequently among the leading tourist attractions in their cities. The accessible scope of their collections makes them popular among both experts and general audiences. In recent years, single-artist museums have been confronting their own particular issues, from legal conflicts surrounding authentication to the temptations and pressures of expanding museum services. Due to the ever-present challenges posed by new technologies, single-artists museums are changing rapidly. Meanwhile, a storied generation of aging painters and sculptors portends the establishment of more institutions devoted to a single artist. Directors from some of the world’s leading museums in this category assess the legacy and debate the future of the single-artist museums.

Director of the Munch Museum, Stein Olav Henrichsen, will talk about The Munch Museum in Oslo, Norway. Edvard Munch was one of Modernism's most significant artist and The Munch Museum opened back in 1963. An increasing number of visitors come to the museum and and additional space is needed in order to exhibit more of the collection. It`s decided to builde a brand new museum in Bjørvika, Oslo, opening in 2020. The new museum will become a landmark building in Oslo that will house the municipality's wonderful Munch collection of nearly 28,000 works of art.

Participants:

Stein Olav Henrichsen, Director, The Munch Museum, Oslo; Thomas Schütte, Artist, Düsseldorf; Nina Zimmer, Director, Kunstmuseum Bern – Zentrum Paul Klee, Bern.

Moderator: András Szántó, Author and Cultural Strategy Consultant, New York

Museum Talk, Wed 13 Jun at Art Basel.