Current exhibitions

Maurice Denis. Amour

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Comrade of Édouard Vuillard and Pierre Bonnard when all three were studying art, Maurice Denis (1870-1943) was a painter and major theoretician of modern French art at the turn of the 20th century. This show – the first dedicated to the artist in Switzerland in 50 years – focuses on the early years of Denis’s career. The novel visual experiments of the “Nabi of the beautiful icons” gave way to the serene splendor of the symbolist works, followed by the bold decision to return to classicism. This event, which features nearly 90 works, is organised with the exceptional support of the Musée d'Orsay and thanks to loans from Europe and the United States.

Reliques et monuments. Œuvres de Christian Boltanski

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Espace Focus
Free admission
Following Les Suisses morts, the show Christian Boltanski (1944-2021) mounted at the museum in 1993, MCBA acquired several pieces by the French artist as well as a number of artist’s…
Following Les Suisses morts, the show Christian Boltanski (1944-2021) mounted at the museum in 1993, MCBA acquired several pieces by the French artist as well as a number of artist’s…

Anne Rochat. In Corpore
Manor Vaud Culture Prize 2020

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Espace Projet
Free admission
For her show featured in the MCBA Espace Projet, Anne Rochat (*1982 in the vallée de Joux; lives and works in Berlin) unfolds a panorama of her work from the last…
For her show featured in the MCBA Espace Projet, Anne Rochat (*1982 in the vallée de Joux; lives and works in Berlin) unfolds a panorama of her work from the last…

Kiki Smith. Hearing You with My Eyes

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With a selection of nearly one hundred pieces, some of which have never been shown in Europe before, the exhibition includes work the american artist made over the past forty years. It is organized around the theme of sensory perception, which has been central to Smith’s work yet little explored until now.

Giovanni Giacometti. Watercolours

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Espace Focus
Free admission
MCBA conserves many oil paintings and drawings by Giovanni Giacometti, a major artist from the turn of the 20th century and a faithful friend of one of the institution’s great…
MCBA conserves many oil paintings and drawings by Giovanni Giacometti, a major artist from the turn of the 20th century and a faithful friend of one of the institution’s great…

Jean Otth. Spaces of Projection

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Jean Otth (1940–2013), a pioneer of video art in Switzerland, began exploring the visual potential of new technologies as early as the late 1960s, experimenting with slides as projected, dematerialised images, television and its language, and the experimental, shifting nature of video.

Jorge Macchi. The Submerged Cathedral

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Free admission
The idea of fiction lies at the heart of the work created by the artist Jorge Macchi (born in 1963; lives and works in Buenos Aires). By placing familiar objects (clocks, instruments, maps, newspapers, etc.) in carefully arranged displays, Macchi lays for us a number of visual traps. Through these he questions our ability to perceive the fragile balance of daily life, which is permanently threatened by incident.
The idea of fiction lies at the heart of the work created by the artist Jorge Macchi (born in 1963; lives and works in Buenos Aires). By placing familiar objects (clocks, instruments, maps, newspapers, etc.) in carefully arranged displays, Macchi lays for us a number of visual traps. Through these he questions our ability to perceive the fragile balance of daily life, which is permanently threatened by incident.

Under the Skin.
Vienna 1900, from Klimt to Schiele and Kokoschka

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In response to the coronavirus pandemic, the exhibition was closed between March 14 and June 2, 2020. It was extended until August 23 (initially dued to close on June 24, 2020). MCBA offers a new perspective on the role of Viennese artists in the genesis of modern art. Under the Skin presents over 170 paintings, drawings, sculptures, and objects created at the dawn of the twentieth century.
Upcoming exhibitions