Rudolf Staechelin (May 8, 1881 – January 3, 1946) was a Swiss businessman and art collector. He is considered one of the major Swiss collectors of the first half of the 20th century.

Biography

Staechelin was born in

Basel , french: link=no, Bâlois(e), it, Basilese , neighboring_municipalities= Allschwil (BL), Hégenheim (FR-68), Binningen (BL), Birsfelden (BL), Bottmingen (BL), Huningue (FR-68), Münchenstein (BL), Muttenz (BL), Reinach (BL), Riehen (BS ...

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

, to the master builder and contractor, Gregor Staechelin, and his wife Emma, née Allgeier. His father's family was originally from Istein, Germany. In 1922, he married Emma Mina Finkbeiner.

Art collection

Staechelin's collection initially focused on French

Impressionism Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement characterized by relatively small, thin, yet visible brush strokes, open Composition (visual arts), composition, emphasis on accurate depiction of light in its changing qualities (often accentuating ...

and

Post-Impressionism Post-Impressionism (also spelled Postimpressionism) was a predominantly French art movement that developed roughly between 1886 and 1905, from the last Impressionist exhibition to the birth of Fauvism. Post-Impressionism emerged as a reaction ag ...

, later expanding to include

East Asian art East Asian art includes: *Chinese art *Japanese art *Korean art See also * History of Eastern art The history of Asian art includes a vast range of arts from various cultures, regions, and religions across the continent of Asia. The major reg ...

. In 1931, the Rudolf Staechelin’sche Familienstiftung (Rudolf Staechelin's Family Foundation) was established to act as custodian of the collection.Muller, ''Nafea'', p. 25. Parts of the collection have been on loan for several decades to the

Kunstmuseum Basel The Kunstmuseum Basel houses the oldest public art collection in the world and is generally considered to be the most important museum of art in Switzerland. It is listed as a heritage site of national significance. Its lineage extends back to t ...

and the Musée d'Art et d'Histoire in Geneva. The collection has included works by

Édouard Manet Édouard Manet (, ; ; 23 January 1832 – 30 April 1883) was a French modernist painter. He was one of the first 19th-century artists to paint modern life, as well as a pivotal figure in the transition from Realism to Impressionism. Born ...

Claude Monet Oscar-Claude Monet (, , ; 14 November 1840 – 5 December 1926) was a French painter and founder of impressionist painting who is seen as a key precursor to modernism, especially in his attempts to paint nature as he perceived it. During ...

Paul Gauguin Eugène Henri Paul Gauguin (, ; ; 7 June 1848 – 8 May 1903) was a French Post-Impressionist artist. Unappreciated until after his death, Gauguin is now recognized for his experimental use of colour and Synthetist style that were distinct fr ...

Paul Cézanne Paul Cézanne ( , , ; ; 19 January 1839 – 22 October 1906) was a French artist and Post-Impressionism, Post-Impressionist painter whose work laid the foundations of the transition from the 19th-century conception of artistic endeavour to a ...

Pierre-Auguste Renoir Pierre-Auguste Renoir (; 25 February 1841 – 3 December 1919) was a French artist who was a leading painter in the development of the Impressionist style. As a celebrator of beauty and especially feminine sensuality, it has been said that "R ...

Edgar Degas Edgar Degas (, ; born Hilaire-Germain-Edgar De Gas, ; 19 July 183427 September 1917) was a French Impressionist artist famous for his pastel drawings and oil paintings. Degas also produced bronze sculptures, prints and drawings. Degas is es ...

Henri Matisse Henri Émile Benoît Matisse (; 31 December 1869 – 3 November 1954) was a French visual artist, known for both his use of colour and his fluid and original draughtsmanship. He was a draughtsman, printmaker, and sculptor, but is known prima ...

Vincent van Gogh Vincent Willem van Gogh (; 30 March 185329 July 1890) was a Dutch Post-Impressionism, Post-Impressionist painter who posthumously became one of the most famous and influential figures in Western art history. In a decade, he created about 2 ...

, and

Pablo Picasso Pablo Ruiz Picasso (25 October 1881 – 8 April 1973) was a Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist and Scenic design, theatre designer who spent most of his adult life in France. One of the most influential artists of the 20th ce ...

, among others. Édouard Manet - Tête de femme (RW 156).jpg, Édouard Manet:
''Tête de femme'' Claude Monet - Temps calme Pourville.jpg, Claude Monet:
''Temps calme, Pouurville'' Camille Pissarro - Le Sentier du village - 1875.jpg, Camille Pissarro:
''Le Sentier du Village'' Paul Gauguin, Nafea Faa Ipoipo? 1892, oil on canvas, 101 x 77 cm.jpg, Paul Gauguin:
''

When Will You Marry? ''When Will You Marry?'' (french: Quand te maries-tu ?, ty, Nafea faa ipoipo?) is an oil painting from 1892 by the French Post-Impressionist artist Paul Gauguin. On loan to the Kunstmuseum in Basel, Switzerland for nearly a half-century, ...

'' Paul Cézanne - Portrait of Victor Chocquet (c. 1877).jpg, Paul Cézanne:
''Portrait of

Victor Chocquet Victor Chocquet (9 December 1821 – 7 April 1891) was a French art collector and an ardent propagandist of Impressionism. As a senior editor at the Directorate-General of Customs and Indirect Taxes, he was present at all the exhibitions where he ...

'' 1889 Vincent van Gogh La Berceuse anagoria.jpg, Vincent van Gogh:
''La Berceuse''

Exhibitions

Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía , Madrid, Spain, 17 March 2015-14 September 2015

References

Sources

* Muller, Hans-Joachim (1990). ''Nafea: Die Sammlung Rudolf Staechelin, Basel'' (in French and German). Rudolf Staechelin'sche Familienstiftung (Rudolf Staechelin's Family Foundation). Basel: Wiese. .

External links

Staechelin, Rudolf
at Historischen Lexikon der Schweiz (Historical Dictionary of Switzerland) {{DEFAULTSORT:Staechelin, Rudolf 1881 births 1946 deaths Swiss art collectors Businesspeople from Basel-Stadt