Favourite spots

A collection of Swiss art from 1805 to the present...

The identity of Pictet took shape in the 19th and 20th centuries. Poised on the threshold of a new millennium, the Bank decided to ground its history in an art collection that reflected its founding values.

Convinced of the important role art fulfils as a way of remaining alert to a changing world, Pictet chose to forge a true cultural heritage and surround itself with works of art. These both embody and accompany an evolution that was inaugurated in 1805 and is now turned to the future.

The Bank, much attached to its Swiss roots, opted for a selection of national artists who are well known and respected both in Switzerland and abroad. Yet the intention here is quite the opposite of a purely nationalist sensibility; it means including the innumerable influences running through Switzerland, like the constant flow of artists arriving, settling down, leaving or returning. Such a selection makes it possible to share several Swiss views on culture rather than a single view of Swiss culture.

Thus, the Pictet Art Collection brings together groups and series of works that highlight the quality of an art that reveals great diversity, be it in the subjects it addresses or the forms it assumes. Painting, drawing, sculpture, photography, even installation and video art, the Collection features works from the different currents running through the artistic output of the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries.

Each new acquisition aims to consolidate works whose importance figures in the individual artist’s trajectory as well as the history of art. Exhibited first at the Bank’s headquarters in Geneva, the Collection is also present in many of the offices of the Pictet Group. It thus establishes a number of strong clear points of reference in the Bank’s premises. The approach to display favours presenting side by side works from a range of periods whilst adapting to the different cultural and architectural contexts.

And in this search for a dialogue between art and the place it occupies, artists are also regularly invited to design site-specific pieces. Centred on values that the Bank holds dear, the Collection gives voice to a quest for excellence, a taste for innovation and an independence of mind.

Today, the Collection counts over 700 works of art.

For more information, https://www.group.pictet

Photo: Sylvie Fleury, To Be Titled, 2005-2008