The Swiss industrialist Emil Georg Bührle, who lived in Zurich from 1924 until his death in 1956, assembled one of the most important private art collections in the world with a focus on French impressionistic and post-impressionistic paintings. Emil Bührle complemented the works of Cézanne, Gauguin, van Gogh, Monet and Renoir with an exquisite selection of Old Masters, French paintings of the 19th century and medieval sculptures.

From 1960 to 2015 the collection was presented to the public in Bührle’s villa in Zurich, which had been converted into a museum. From 2020 onwards, the paintings will be permanently showcased in an extension of the Zurich ‘Kunsthaus’ which was designed by the renowned British architect David Chipperfield and is currently being constructed.

The Bührle Foundation seized this opportunity to exhibit 64 of the collection’s most important art works in three different locations in Japan: Tokyo, Nagoya, Fukuoka. The exhibition will run from February to September 2018 and is organised by important Japanese media groups and many different sections of the national public broadcaster NHK. The show will start with the exhibition in Tokyo, organised by the NACT; The Tokyo Shimbun; NHK; and NHK Promotions Inc.

Julius Baer appointed to act as sole international sponsor

Thanks to its excellent relationship with the Bührle Foundation, Julius Baer has been appointed as the sole international sponsor for the Tokyo-based exhibition at the NACT from 14 February to 7 May 2018. The sponsorship encompasses an exclusive private viewing for 100 selected Julius Baer guests, including a guided tour by Dr. Lukas Gloor, Director of the Bührle Foundation and curator of the exhibition.  The tour will take place on Tuesday, 20 February (the NACT weekly closing day) and is  followed by a gala dinner at the Grand Hyatt Tokyo. The event will be jointly hosted by H.E. Jean-François Paroz, Ambassador of Switzerland to Japan, as well as by Charles G. T. Stonehill, Vice Chairman of the Julius Baer Group.

Lead image: The National Art Center, Tokyo