VADUZ.- To mark the 25th anniversary of the VP Bank Art Foundation, the works for the first time now left their usual home in the bank buildings in Vaduz, Triesen and Zürich for an exhibition at Kunstmuseum Liechtenstein.

The display focuses on exponents of painting, the central theme of the collection of the VP Bank Art Foundation. The concept of the exhibition operates with juxtapositions – be it the moving gesture contrasting with a calm, monochrome surface, saturated colours adjacent to a reduced use of colour, or abstract works and their interplay with figurative approaches – so as to emphasise the peculiar qualities of each painterly position.

To further underscore the aspect of painting, the idea came about to invite the artist Hanna Roeckle to develop a colour concept. The aim here was for her to frame the overall exhibition with her modular method of working and her reduced, rather cool palette so as to extend the painting into three-dimensional space. Photographs by Barbara Bühler, in turn, afford visitors an insight into the interactions between the various artworks in the world of work.

The VP Bank Art Foundation

The inception of the VP Bank’s art collection goes back to the then General Manager Dr. Heinz Batliner, who began acquiring artworks for the bank in the 1970s. His aim was to integrate art into the world of work: art was not to be tucked away in a store but rather made accessible to customers and staff in the rooms of the bank, a principle that still holds true today. One aim of the VP Bank Art Foundation established in 1996 was to hone the concept of the collection, with painting coming to be the main emphasis. Since then, acquisitions have focused on exponents of non-objective art from the post-war period to the present. The VP Bank Art Foundation collects international, regional and local artists, some over many years of their artistic activities.

Hans Brunhart, President of the VP Bank Art Foundation: “The VP Bank Art Foundation promotes the appreciation of art and ensures an inspirational experience by collecting artworks and displaying them in the bank. To mark our twenty-fifth anniversary, we are therefore delighted to be able to make our collection accessible to the public as part of an exhibition at Kunstmuseum Liechtenstein. This is a unique opportunity as the works have, with the exception of individual loans, so far only been exhibited on the premises of the VP Bank.”

Artists represented in the exhibition

Barbara Bühler, Bruno Kaufmann, Evi Kliemand, Hanns Kunitzberger, Rachel Lumsden, Georg Malin, Joseph Marioni, Regina Marxer, Aurélie Nemours, Arno Oehri, Jürgen Partenheimer, Heimrad Prem, David Reed, Hanna Roeckle, Karina Wisniewska