Museum Franz Gertsch

The art of Franz Gertsch and temporary exhibitions

Opened in 2002 and extended in 2019, the Museum Franz Gertsch, with its very clear rooms entirely given to art, is dedicated to the internationally renowned Swiss artist Franz Gertsch. In addition to the art of Franz Gertsch, the museum, located in Burgdorf near Bern, regularly shows temporary exhibitions presenting a broad spectrum of contemporary art. Companions as well as comparable younger positions from Switzerland and abroad, but also contrasting approaches to reality are the exhibition themes; the interface of painting and photography forms another focus. The core of the museum collection is formed by the large-format woodcuts printed on Japanese paper and the monumental paintings by Franz Gertsch from 1986 onwards. The permanently exhibited cycle of the Four Seasons, created between 2007 and 2011, is unique.

Franz Gertsch, Silvia I [Detail], 1998, Eitempera auf ungrundierter Baumwolle / Tempera on unprimed cotton, 290 x 280 cm, Museum Franz Gertsch, Burgdorf © Franz Gertsch AG
Museum Franz Gertsch
Franz Gertsch. Portraits and nature pieces II
until Su, 01.03.2026

They are back! After the paintings “Johanna I” (1983/84) and “Silvia I” (1998) as well as the woodcut “Rüschegg” (1988/89) travelled to the exhibitions at the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art (DK) and the Deichtorhallen Hamburg (D), we are delighted to be able to show them again. During this exhibition period, large-format paintings and woodcuts by Franz Gertsch can be seen at the Museum Franz Gertsch. The exhibition focuses on portraits and nature pieces.

 

Alois Lichtsteiner, Ohne Titel (Berg) / Untitled (Mountain), 2022/2024 Öl auf Leinwand / Oil on canvas 130 x 200 cm Privatsammlung, Schweiz / Private Collection, Switzerland © Alois Lichtsteiner
Museum Franz Gertsch
Alois Lichtsteiner. It Is Not What It Is
until Su, 01.03.2026

The Swiss painter and graphic and object artist Alois Lichtsteiner (*1950) will premiere a group of monumental works at the Museum Franz Gertsch which mark key moments in his painterly quest. The show also revisits the beginnings of the artist’s exploration of this theme in the 1980s and follows his journey from colour to shades of grey and back to colour.

 

Franz Gertsch, Mädchenkopf [Detail], 1950 (1997), Woodcut, 18 x 12.5 cm, Woodcut 7 6/27 on Kumohadamashi Japanese paper by Heizaburo Iwano, Museum Franz Gertsch, Burgdorf © Franz Gertsch AG
Museum Franz Gertsch
Franz Gertsch. Early Woodcuts
until Su, 30.11.2025

The Museum Franz Gertsch exhibits a selection of Franz Gertsch’s early woodcuts from the 1940s and 1950s in the Cabinet. The sixty early prints by Franz Gertsch exhibited at the Cabinet date from the 1940s and 1950s and were produced in conjunction with his artist books, for example “This und Weit” (1950) and “Ein Sommer” (1954), which were printed in editions of about 200 copies each and feature pictures and texts by the artist.

 

Museum Franz Gertsch
Cantonale Berne Jura 2025
Sa, 06.12.2025 – Su, 01.03.2026

Das Museum Franz Gertsch nimmt an der Cantonale Berne Jura, der Jahresausstellung der Kantone Bern und Jura, teil. Die Ausstellung findet im Kabinett statt. Hier treten aktuelle Arbeiten von Künstlerinnen und Künstlern in einen Dialog miteinander und zeigen ein Spektrum von abwechslungsreichen, zeitgenössischen Positionen. Diverse Techniken und Materialien werden aufgegriffen.