The Basel Artists’ Group Kreis 48

On the occasion of the 75th anniversary of the «Kreis 48» , the Kunstmuseum Basel presents a retrospective of this artists' group from Basel. Max Kämpf was the head of this association. Accordingly, he and his works shape the exhibition, which draws from the museum's collection. A special focus is also placed on Valery Heussler and her unique surrealist imagery. She is a recent (Swiss) discovery. Heussler has already had a permanent place in the Kunstmuseum Basel's collection presentation.
Most of the approximately 40 paintings and sculptures shown in this exhibition come from the museum's own collection. A few loans from the Kunstkredit Basel-Stadt complement the selection. The exhibition also shows the context in which Kreis 48 can be understood as a result of the dynamic developments in the city's art scene at the time. «The association as a group was a defiant reaction against the officially recognized,» founding member Hans Weidmann formulated in retrospect.
While the early works of Kreis 48 members from the 1930s sometimes show young, still searching artists, works from the 1950s and 1960s mark the path they took.