Located in the heart of Lucerne, Switzerland, the Rosengart Collection is home to a world-class collection of over 300 works of art. Here you’ll encounter paintings by Pablo Picasso, Paul Klee and 23 other Impressionist and Classic Modernist artists.
The private collection of Angela Rosengart and her father Siegfried Rosengart (now a foundation), guests of Luxury Gold are treated to an exclusive after-hours viewing. Tour the gallery with an expert guide and sip a glass of bubbly surrounded by exquisite masterpieces.
We had the privilege of speaking to the Rosengart Foundation`s president and ‘grande dame of art’ Angela Rosengart, to find out more about the delights that await on this intimate and exclusive experience.
Now aged 90, Angela Rosengart started working for her father at the then Galerie Rosengart when she was 16, and it became her lifelong passion. In 1992 she established the Rosengart Foundation to put the private works on display to the public, and 10 years later in 2002 she opened up the museum.
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The Rosengart Collection
The Rosengart Collection is housed in an elegant gallery in Lucerne, a neo-classical palazzo originally constructed for the Swiss National Bank. The collection features 180 works by Pablo Picasso, 125 by Paul Klee plus works from other world-famous 19th and 20th century masters, including Cezanne, Chagall, Monet, Matisse, Miró and Léger.
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“The collection is perhaps so special because it is formed by only two people, myself and my father Siegfried Rosengart,” says Angela Rosengart. “So, it is different to what you might see in museums that have been formed by generations of directors. I think people feel it that it is something quite unique.”
“What also makes it so special is that my father and I had a personal relationship with most of the artists exhibited in the museum.”
Thanks to Siegfried and Angela Rosengart’s friendship with Picasso, he is represented in the collection with 32 paintings, including five portraits of Angela Rosengart herself, as well as around one hundred drawings, watercolors, graphic and sculptural works.
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Origins of the collection
@museumrosengart
“The Rosengart Collection started as a matter of the heart,” Angela Rosengart tells us. “My father loved art, even as a young man. When he became an art dealer, he continued to deal like he was buying for his personal collection.
“He always said that, even as an art dealer you have to buy only what you like. You must ‘choose like a collector and then sell as an art dealer.’ People always realize whether you love art, or if you just want to do business.
“So, there were always pictures which he didn’t want to sell, and it accumulated over the years. It became a collection, without our wanting to make a collection.”
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A natural love of art
“Art was something which was just natural in our house, there were pictures all over,” says Angela Rosengart. “As I child I might not have looked at them, but they were with me.
“Just before I had finished my school years, my father broke his leg skiing. He said I must come and help him, later I could do what I wanted. I soon realized that the profession of art dealing is a wonderful profession, and I didn’t want to do anything else.
“It was something unique to meet all the artists that my father met as a young man; Pablo Picasso, Marc Chagall, Joan Miró or Fernand Léger. It was natural for me to meet them too, and that was quite a privilege.”
Sitting for Picasso
Angela Rosengart in der Sammlung Rosengart Luzern
Luzern, den 29.05.2019
Copyright: Priska Ketterer Luzern / Janet Briner / Angela Rosengart
“I met Picasso in 1949 because he had been a friend of my father for many years. He was very kind to me and asked me to sit for a portrait for him. That was something very special because he didn’t paint many portraits anymore, although in his youth he did.
“There are five portraits of me in the gallery which were painted between 1954 and 1966. To endure Picasso’s gaze was an incredible experience. He seemed to bore into me with his eyes, indeed to eat me up.”
Angela Rosengart wird von Picasso bekr„nzt 1963. Fotografin Jacqueline Picasso.
Something special
“Opening up the gallery to the public was a special moment, and something very personal to me,” Angela Rosengart says. “People really enjoy the collection and I take great joy from that. It was great to have a place where the collection could be seen.
“I think the people are often surprised at seeing a collection such as this in Lucerne, to see so many Picassos, so many Paul Klees, the amount is surprising. It’s the only place in Switzerland where you can see so many works by Picasso.
“It is not possible to pick a favorite though, I can only say I have 300 favorites!”
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Journey with us on our Majestic Switzerland luxury tour and enjoy a private, after hours viewing of the Rosengart Collection Lucerne, under the eye of an expert guide. Followed by bubbly and canapes among Picasso’s masterpieces.
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