My favourite: E. L. Kirchner, Davos in the Winter. Davos in the Snow

The Kunstmuseum Basel’s collections comprise ca. 4,000 paintings, sculptures, videos, and works of installation art, as well as the ca. 300,000 drawings and prints from seven centuries held by the Kupferstichkabinett. Decisions on acquisitions, donations and bequests are essentially made by the Art Commission, which accompanies, advises and supports the museum management. Its president Felix Uhlmann presents his favorite work from the collection.

1. Name and role at the Kunstmuseum Basel?
Felix Uhlmann, President of the Board of Trustees

2. Job description
I'm president of the Board of Trustees. The Board of Trustees decides on acquisitions and the acceptance of donations. It advises the director and is responsible for his or her choice. It is a pleasure to work for such a great institution as the Kunstmuseum Basel.

3. What's your favorite work?
Ernst Ludwig Kirchner Davos in Winter. Davos in Snow from 1923

4. Why?
In my memory the work of Ernst Ludwig Kirchner and the Magic Mountain of Thomas Mann are intertwined. The first 80 pages of the novel exude an attraction that the protagonist and reader alike cannot escape. It is only logical that Hans Castorp remains on the Magic Mountain. The work of Kirchner captivated and continues to captivate me in equal measure. In Mann's extravagant treatises, my thoughts were more often with this work than with the text.
For this reason, too, it was an extraordinary pleasure for me that the Kunstmuseum Basel received another wonderful work by Kirchner as a gift from Eberhard Kornfeld in 2017 (Stafelalp, Return of the Animals, 1919).

Credit: Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Davos in Winter. Davos in Snow,1923, oil on canvas, 120.1 x 150 cm. Kunstmuseum Basel- Gift from Georg Reinhart, Winterthur