Basel, January 2014

Dear friends of Art Centre Basel,

It is with great pleasure that I announce our 30th anniversary.

I founded this institution thirty years ago with a vision of creating unique exhibitions for Basel only that would display ethnological art on an equal level with what was then considered the Western canon of classical modernism. This vision evolved to creating exhibitions, on a wide range of topics that were of outstanding quality for the audience to see and enjoy, and to contribute to academic discourse with our accompanying publications.

Looking back on three decades of working with museums I cannot say that my vision has led me on an easy path; there were moments of discouragement and defeat, of roadblocks that seemed unmovable. Yet, these moments were scarce compared to the many moments of unconditional support and friendship I was honoured to receive.

In January 1984 I opened the exhibition rooms at Sternengasse 6 in Basel, freshly restored for the sole purpose of showing my exhibitions on all four floors. My first two visitors happened to be Ernst Beyeler, the great Swiss collector and gallery owner and a longtime friend of my husband and mine, who had loaned five works to the exhibition. With him was William Rubin, then Chief Curator at the Museum of Modern Art, New York. They both came to preview my first exhibition “Resonances: Tribal Art – Modern Art”.

It was Bill Rubin who advised me to let my exhibitions travel internationally. Not knowing how to begin and where to start, Bill not only gave me his endorsement, but he also provided me with a list of museum contacts that enabled me to send my second exhibition on its first international tour in 1986 to eight leading museums in Europe and the USA. This led me to closing the exhibition rooms in Basel after 1985, turning them into our offices instead, and from then on to focus solely on curating and managing travelling exhibitions.

Many other exhibitions of international recognition followed as Art Centre Basel grew and we constantly expanded our team of art historians. I fondly remember the large exhibition about the Greek poet ‘Homer’ and, of course, the two immensely popular museum architecture exhibitions dedicated to the new millennium.

For me the most important exhibition to date, which I curated with great dedication over many years, was certainly ‘Gauguin Polynesia’, shown at the Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek in Copenhagen and the Seattle Art Museum. It was a great success not only in terms of visitor numbers but also with our highly praised exhibition catalogue, receiving a place on the famous ‘Art book of the year 2011’ list by the renowned art critic Brian Sewell.

Among the many exhibition projects we are opening in the coming years, I am now very much looking forward to our ambitious exhibitions ‘Monet and the French Impressionists’ and ‘Picasso: The Artist and his Muses’.

All this would have not been possible without the constant support of and valued intellectual exchange with my beloved husband, Dr. med. Hans Rudolf Greub, with whom I have always shared a passion for art, both as collectors and art lovers. My gratitude for his love and encouragement is boundless.

My special thanks go to my deputy director, Katharina Beisiegel, who for the last three years has shared the responsibility of leading the Art Centre Basel with great dedication and competence.

It gives me so much joy that my initial vision has proven to be fruitful and I hope that the work of the Art Centre Basel will continue for many years to come.

With heartfelt thanks to the countless friends who have supported me since 1984.

Sincerely,

Suzanne Greub

Director and Founder

Art Centre Basel