History and remit - Musée Jenisch

The Musée Jenisch Vevey is open to all and is a compact art museum – specialising in drawing, printmaking and painting – which preserves and showcases six centuries of artistic creation and invites visitors to enjoy engaging and enriching experiences. It was founded by women and is run by them today. It features an exceptionally rich permanent collection (Bocion, Courbet, Corot, Hodler, Vallotton, Picasso, Morandi, etc.), a section specifically dedicated to prints – the Pavillon de l’estampe –, a replica of Kokoschka’s studio, exhibitions that cannot be seen anywhere else, as well as innovative educational programmes. It is a dynamic and inclusive museum that knows how to engage visitors in an authentic and vibrant encounter with the artworks. A special place of enjoyment, emotion, knowledge and inspiration.

As the second art museum in the canton of Vaud, the Musée Jenisch Vevey houses an exceptional collection of works on paper, in particular the cantonal print collection, which comprises more than 40,000 works from the Renaissance to the present day, making it one of the five most renowned print collections in Switzerland. It also houses the world’s most significant collection of works by Oskar Kokoschka, as well as a collection of more than 11,000 drawings by the greatest artists in art history.

Collections

Since it opened in 1897, the museum has been expanding its collections thanks to the support of its visitors. The first work recorded in the inventory – ‘Le Port d’Ouchy’ by François Bocion, 1885, oil on canvas – was acquired in 1893 through a public fundraising campaign amongst the residents of Vevey.

This initial purchase was gradually supplemented by donations, bequests, loans and further acquisitions through public fundraising campaigns, the majority of which were paintings. Among the oldest works in the collections are pieces by Gustave Courbet, donated in 1914 by his sister Juliette following the artist’s death in La Tour-de-Peilz in 1877, as well as, in particular, works by Charles Gleyre, Léopold Robert, Eugène Burnand and Charles Giron. The Fine Arts collections span five centuries of artistic creation and bring together works by Swiss and international artists.

The collections of the Musée Jenisch consist of works on loan from foundations (the Foundation of the Société des Beaux-Arts de Vevey, the Foundation for Art and Literature,the Oskar Kokoschka Foundation andthe Gottfried Keller Foundation), from artists’ estates (Lélo Fiaux,Wilhelm Gimmi andJacques Pajak) and from significant donations. Thanks in part to private initiatives, the collection of drawings has been enriched with significant works. In 1968, a major bequest from René de Cérenville added more than 150 historical drawings to the collection, including several rare works by famous Italian Renaissance artists. As early as 2007, a collector bequeathed to Vevey a collection of 700 drawings from the 18th-century French and Italian periods, which is continually being expanded. In 2014, Rudolf Schindler donated to the museum an exceptional collection of 632 drawings by Ferdinand Hodler. In 2019, the ‘Les Amis du Musée Jenisch’ Foundation donated its entire collection to the museum.

Collections held at the Musée Jenisch Vevey

Nestlé Art Collection
Federal Collection (OFC)
Foundation for Art and Literature
Lélo Fiaux Foundation

Wilhelm Gimmi Foundation
Gottfried Keller Foundation
Oskar Kokoschka Foundation Jacques Pajak Foundation
Foundation of the Vevey Society for the Fine Arts
Cuendet Foundation

Decker Collection

Pierre Aubert Foundation

Vaud Canton Print Collection

Alice Bailly Foundation

Coninx Foundation

Planque Foundation

The Musée Jenisch Vevey has an acquisitions policy that enables it to decide on planned donations, bequests, purchases or loans. All enquiries regarding acquisitions may be addressedto the conservation teamat the Musée Jenisch Vevey.

Major works

Discover a selection of significant works from the collections of the Musée Jenisch Vevey, which bear witness to their richness and diversity.

Ancestry research

From January 2021 to the end of November 2022, the Musée Jenisch Vevey, with the support of the Federal Office of Culture (BAK), carried out a research project into the provenance of 207 works from its public collections. As part of this project, 159 works on paper – including drawings and prints – 45 paintings and 3 sculptures were examined in detail.

Sustainable development

The Musée Jenisch Vevey is committed to a sustainable future
As part of its efforts to strengthen its environmental, social and economic responsibilities, the Musée Jenisch Vevey has taken part in a pilot project on sustainability in museums, coordinatedby the Association of Swiss Museums(VSM).
This project, carried out in collaboration with several Swiss museums, aims to identify concrete courses of action, share best practices and gradually integrate the principles of sustainable development into the day-to-day management of cultural institutions.

Following this initial phase, the Musée Jenisch Vevey has already implemented several measures in this area and continues to develop a long-term strategy in line with the 17 Sustainable Development Goals set out in the 2030 Agenda.
The museum team is thus continuing its efforts to combine cultural excellence with social responsibility.

Documents to download

Jenisch Museum – Some key facts