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Site and exhibits assured
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05.11.1998
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The Paul Klee Museum is to be accommodated in a new building in the Schöngrün district of Bern. The museum is being built by the Maurice E. and Martha Müller Foundation (MMMF) established under private law. Klee‘s grandson, Alexander, is making his share of the master‘s works available to the museum. In all, the new museum will be in a position to exhibit around 40 percent of Paul Klee‘s oeuvre.
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The generous donation by Mrs Livia Klee-Meyer in the summer of 1997 enabled the Canton, the Local Authority and the Civic Community of Bern to start work on the project of creating a museum dedicated to Paul Klee in Bern. One year later, the Gesamtprojektausschuss Klee for the Paul Klee Museum decided, at the unanimous request of the Gesamtprojektleitung Klee and subject to consent by the responsible bodies, to build the Paul Klee Museum in the Schöngrün district close to the city centre. The Gesamtprojektausschuss announced its decision this Thursday (5 November 1998) at a media conference in Bern. The Gesamtprojektausschuss includes the Finance Director of Bern Canton, Government Councillor Dr Hans Lauri, the Mayor of Bern, Dr Klaus Baumgartner, and the President of the Civic Community, Dr Kurt Hauri.
Possible sites in the inner city verified
The site question has been the subject of wide public discussion in recent months, especially because the original proposal of converting a former school property belonging to the City the “Progr”, directly opposite the Art Museum, is ruled out by a monument conservation order. This prevents the necessary building work to convert a school house into a museum and accompanying Klee Research Centre with attractive architecture and fitting easily into the urban environment. As part of a feasibility study, further possible sites in the inner city were subsequently assessed in detail by the Metron Company.
Generous donation offered
When the retired orthopaedic surgeon, Prof. Maurice E. Müller, and his wife, Martha Müller-Lüthi, offered to give the three public authorities in the summer of 1998 a site for the future Paul Klee Museum and 30 million Swiss francs at least for the building itself, the Bern Town Planning Office examined the Schöngrün site on behalf of the Gesamtprojektausschuss in parallel with the inner city feasibility study.
Decision in favour of “Schöngrün”
The results of the two studies clearly showed that, with an appropriate site either in the inner city or at Schöngrün, a good solution could be found for an attractive Paul Klee Museum with outstanding architectural and town planning merit and international prestige. At the end of the decision-making process, the choice was between the “Klee-Place” inner city variant and the Schöngrün site, both of which were suitable for new buildings. On the basis of a detailed comparison of the key data for the two site variants, the Gesamtprojektausschuss decided in favour of the Schöngrün site and accepted the generous gift by Mr and Mrs Müller which, in conjunction with the donation by Livia Klee-Meyer, represented a unique opportunity for the Canton and City of Bern. The representatives of the Canton, City and Civic Community thanked Prof. Maurice E. Müller and his wife Martha Müller-Lüthi on behalf of their authorities and the population for the generous donation at a media conference.
Creation of the Maurice E. and Martha Müller Foundation (MMMF)
With a view to the construction of the Paul Klee Museum, the Maurice E. and Martha Müller Foundation was established yesterday (Wednesday 4 November 1998) under private law with representatives of the Müller family, the Klee family, the three Public Sectors and the Art Museum. The City and Canton will both share responsibility for the development of the Museum site and future running of the Museum. The Civic Community will endow a fund to support temporary exhibitions and art work purchases.
Works loaned by Alexander Klee
On 3 November 1998, the members of the Gesamtprojektausschuss signed contracts with Alexander Klee. In virtue of these contracts, Alexander Klee deposited his entire share of the artist‘s work with the Art Museum and later with the Paul Klee Museum and gave them the right to exhibit his pictures. He made some 40 works available on permanent loan. They include oil paintings such as the Aarelandschaften (Aare landscapes) created in 1900 and of central importance to Paul Klee‘s early period. Great importance also attaches to the Schauspieler (Actor) of 1923 and the Pyramide (Pyramid) , dated 1932, to mention just two examples. The permanent loans also include a group of works by artists in Paul Klee‘s circle. These are works by Alexej von Jawlensky, Franz Marc and Marianne von Werefkin. The contracts also grant the public authorities a right of pre-emption in some 200 works owned by Alexander Klee.
40 per cent of the artist‘s oeuvre on display in the new Museum
The pictures loaned by Alexander Klee make an important addition to the great donation which Livia Klee-Meyer, widow of Klee‘s son Felix, made when she placed her share of the inheritance at the disposal of the public authorities. Her donation comprises some 600 titles, among which all the phases and types of work of Paul Klee are well represented. They include the legendary hand puppets and a whole series of paintings on glass. Together with the impressive endowment of the Paul-Klee-Stiftung and other Klee pictures owned by the Art Museum or placed at its disposal, the future Paul Klee Museum will have in all around 40 per cent of the total oeuvre, consisting of ten thousand individual works by this artist whose creative activity was so central to the art of the 20th century. The number and diversity of the works concerned are altogether exceptional in comparison with other monographic museums.
A Research Centre as well as a Museum
The future Paul Klee Museum will not only present and explain these works but also serve as a Research Centre. To enable that task to be performed, access to the constantly changing documentation of the Paul-Klee-Stiftung and to the archives from the estate of Felix Klee are particularly important to the Paul Klee Museum. Livia Klee-Meyer and Alexander Klee have also decided to make these works available to the future Museum.
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