[Oct.04.2017] Private Tour for SCAA “Chinese Art + Museum Architecture” 中秋节中国艺术珍藏和博物馆建筑之夜

Private Tour for SCAA “Chinese Art + Museum Architecture”
中秋节中国艺术珍藏和博物馆建筑之夜

Guided by
Alexandra von Przychowski (Curator China)
and
Martin Sollberger (Museum Architect)

Time: 18:15, Wednesday 4.October 2017 (Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival)
Meeting Point: Entrance hall, Museum Rietberg, Gablerstrasse 15 Zurich
Language: German
Price:
SCAA Members: free upon purchase of an entrance ticket
Non-members: CHF 15 upon purchase of an entrance ticket

* Free entrance to museum: Members of Museum Rietberg / Museum Pass / Member of Raiffeisen
* For Non SCAA Members: please pay CHF 15 separately at the SCAA Cash point (Alisa Voronova)
* Please reserve enough time to buy an entrance ticket in advance and show up at the meeting point on time
* Because of the limited capacity of this exclusive guide tour, please make a reservation a.s.a.p. via info@scaa.ch

The Museum Rietberg owns one of Europe’s most important collections of Chinese art, with a focus on Buddhist sculpture, funerary art (bronzes, jades, ceramics), and painting from the Ming and Qing dynasties (1368–1911). The long-term loan of the world-famous Meiyintang Collection of Chinese ceramics has greatly added to its reputation.

Over more than five decades, the brothers Gilbert and Stephen Zuellig have brought together one of the most important private collections of Chinese ceramics in the world, which is known under the name Meiyintang, „Hall among Rosebeds‟. Through their life and their business in the Far East, they developed a wide-ranging passion for Asian art and culture. Around 1960 the brothers began to build a systematic collection of Chinese art. Gilbert Zuellig specialised in early ceramics from the Neolithic period through the Han and Tang dynasties to the Song dynasty (5th millennium BC to 1279) while Stephen collected porcelain of the later dynasties (Yuan, Ming and Qing).

For specialists and lovers of Chinese ceramics, but also for a wider audience it is a stroke of luck that the older part of the collection which was transferred to a foundation is now publicly accessible. The Meiyintang Foundation and the family of Gilbert Zuellig (1918–2009) have ensured that this eminent collection is maintained in its entirety by lending it to the Museum Rietberg as a long-term loan. In addition, the Foundation will cover the expenses incurred by the refurbishing of the China galleries. The existing rooms in the Emerald pavilion were completely rebuilt and redesigned over six months. For the presentation of the ceramics in floor-to-ceiling display cases, a novel exhibition concept was developed using LED luminaires thanks to which the different shapes and glazes of the ceramics are highlighted in an ideal way.