A collection encompassing more than 20,000 works is a live and constantly changing organism: It is exhibited and stored, conserved and restored as well as continually expanded, recombined, and mediated. Every year, the Aargauer Kunsthaus shows a different selection of works from its collection on its upper and lower levels. Key works, new additions, and works that have rarely or never before been displayed engage in a multi-faceted dialogue with one another.

This diversity can be experienced in the current exhibition Collection 23: On the upper level, it focusses on the juxtaposition of paintings and sculptures, such as landscapes by Caspar Wolf, a portrait by Louise Breslau, works from the German and Swiss expressionism, paintings from the classical modernism in immediate proximity to modern and contemporary sculptures. This interplay between image and object gives rise to associative connections both among the various periods and among the works.

The recently restored wooden sculpture Mutter (Mother) by Hermann Scherer, for example, is presented together with the artist’s landscape paintings and a painting by Ernst Ludwig Kirchner. In the neighbouring room, paintings by Cuno Amiet, Augusto Giacometti, Ferdinand Hodler and Edouard Vallet frame the 1997 sculptural work Rotation grün (Rotation green) by Lucie Schenker, which found its way into the collection through the exhibition Swiss Sculpture since 1945.

In the continuation in the basement, filigree works on paper and photographs by contemporary artists predominate in the first part. City views by Cécile Wick and abstract nature photographs by Thomas Flechtner alternate with drawings by Sandra Boeschenstein and a large-format cyanotype of a quarry by Daniela Keiser.

A special focus within the exhibition is the Aargau artist Hugo Suter. A selection from the extensive collection of the museum’s own collection is shown in three rooms. In various media, Suter’s meticulous examination of recurring, fleeting natural phenomena becomes tangible.

The focus is supplemented by works by artist friends and contemporaries of Hugo Suter. Among them are works from his personal estate, such as the self-portrait by Markus Raetz, gouaches by Rolf Winnewisser and a small-format, colourful painting by Gabi Fuhrimann.

Awareness (Moments) in Art
On the upper level, visitors have the opportunity to practice several awareness exercises in the context of ten selected works, which will help them experience art in a new and transformative way. Art appeals to perception and senses in various ways and is therefore an ideal object of resonance. The mindful art contemplations were developed by certified Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction teachers from the canton of Aargau, among others.