The Collection
Centrepiece of the museum: the collection
The Kunstmuseum Liechtenstein collection forms the centrepiece of the museum. It is the lifeblood of our exhibition programme and provides the impetus for a rich and varied range of activities and offerings. It comprises international art from early modernism to the present day, with a special emphasis on works since 1945. Marcel Duchamp is a central point of reference. All of his ‘boxes’ are held in the collection. For the 1950s, the Lettrists (Robert Altmann gift) and Art Informel (Monauni Collection long-term loan) both feature prominently.
New acquisitions are guided by a focus on rethinking modernism and its broader context through a global lens. Particular strengths of the collection include Arte Povera and postminimalism (Ricke Collection), especially for process and installation art. Characterised by a profound openness, artists such as Absalon, Marcel Broodthaers, General Idea, Bethan Huws, Anne Marie Jehle, Ana Lupas, Matt Mullican, Rivane Neuenschwander, and Henrik Olesen, combine questions of anthropology and aesthetics with the achievements of ‘classical’ positions. This thread continues with more recent exponents, including Dozie Kanu, Charlotte Moth, Pamela Rosenkranz, Georgia Sagri and Diamond Stingily.
In line with this, rather than constantly exhibiting a ‘best of’ selection, the museum stages changing displays that consider and question the works in relation to each other and with new works. The presentation and expansion of the collection is founded on dialogue.
The Kunstmuseum’s collection weaves together the different strands that have been added over the course of the museum’s history. The Sculpture Walk allows visitors to experience selected works in public space.
A unique collaboration of three museums
In 2006, Kunstmuseum St.Gallen, Kunstmuseum Liechtenstein and Museum MMK für Moderne Kunst, Frankfurt am Main, acquired the important Ricke Collection – a unique instance of cross-border museum cooperation. Despite this shared ownership, the integrity of the collection is preserved, with all three museums having equal access to the entire holdings.
Above all, the collection comprises American art since the 1960s, including key works by Richard Artschwager, Donald Judd, Barry Le Va, Lee Lozano, Richard Serra and Keith Sonnier. Featuring comprehensive, complementary bodies of work, it is truly one of a kind.
Rolf Ricke (b. 1934 in Kassel, Germany), a Cologne gallerist of many years’ standing, ranks among the pioneers of presenting contemporary art. One of the first to introduce European audiences to post-war American art, he both exhibited and supported many important and influential artists.
The visionary oeuvre of Austrian-Liechtenstein artist Anne Marie Jehle (1937 in Feldkirch, Austria–2000 in Vaduz) comprises objects, installations, paintings, prints, drawings, photography and text. The focus is on her critical engagement with aspects of everyday life, societal structures and power relations, and particularly female roles.
The Anne Marie Jehle Estate was given to Kunstmuseum Liechtenstein by the Anne Marie Jehle Foundation in 2022. It comprises more than 1,600 works, her library, papers, audio-visual materials, photographs and documents.
From 1965 onwards, Jehle’s parental home in Feldkirch was the centre of her artistic practice. In the later 1960s, she built up a network of international contacts, becoming acquainted with the Fluxus movement and the Nouveau réalistes. From 1989 to 1993 she lived in the United States, after which her artistic career came to an abrupt halt. She spent her later years in Liechtenstein.
The estate of Swiss artist André Thomkins (1930 in Lucerne, Switzerland–1985 in Berlin) has been on permanent loan to Kunstmuseum Liechtenstein since 2004. It comprises more than 6,500 works, the artist’s library, photographs and documents.
Thomkins’s experimental handling of language is manifested in his characteristic puns, anagrams and palindromes – for example, ‘STRATEGY: GET ARTS’. He preserved his wit and invention until his untimely death aged only 55.
Thomkins was an outstanding draughtsman and watercolourist. Engaging with old masters and twentieth-century artists – including Marcel Duchamp, Max Ernst and Paul Klee – he was also inspired by surrealism. With the aid of rubber, paper, foodstuffs and various finds, he crafted humorous, fantastic works full of playful light-heartedness and intellectual depth.
Sculpture Walk around Liechtenstein
Discover art – all across the country!
Thirteen sculptures from the Kunstmuseum Liechtenstein collection are on permanent display in public spaces: Fernando Botero’s Reclining Woman is right outside the museum and you’ll find others around Vaduz, Bendern, Planken or at Gutenberg Castle in Balzers.
The Sculpture Park at the Stein Egerta seminar centre in Schaan brings together several works to create a unique art experience. Longstanding curator of the State Art Collection and cofounder of the museum, Georg Malin, established the Sculpture Park in 1995. The park is open to the public.
Stein Egerta
Experience our
collection online
Enjoy researching, browsing and getting to know our collection!