Musée Jenisch Vevey

About the museum

The museum goes back to a gift from Fanny Jenisch (1801–1881), the widow of a Hamburg senator. She wished to express her gratitude to the town of Vevey, where she had spent happy stays with her husband, and bequeathed money to it for an art museum. The neoclassical building by the architects Maillard and Convert opened in March 1897. The first inventory item, "Le Port d'Ouchy" by François Bocion, entered the collection in 1893 through a public subscription.

At first the museum had a universal focus; since the end of the 1980s it has been devoted exclusively to the fine arts. In 1989 the Cabinet cantonal des estampes was established here; it now comprises more than 40,000 prints from the Renaissance to the present and is among the five most important graphic collections in Switzerland. Since 2017 the Pavillon de l'estampe has provided a dedicated exhibition space for graphic art.

The collection grew through donations, bequests, deposits from foundations and purchases. It contains around 1,600 paintings and 11,000 drawings, including works by Bocion, Courbet, Corot, Hodler, Vallotton and Morandi. In 2014 Rudolf Schindler donated 632 drawings by Ferdinand Hodler to the museum. The Fondation Oskar Kokoschka, founded in Vevey in 1988, holds more than 2,300 paintings and drawings by the artist as well as almost his entire lithographic oeuvre.

Today the museum sees itself as a museum with a focus on works on paper, bringing old and contemporary art into dialogue. The permanent display of paintings is regularly rehung.

Highlights

• Permanent exhibition with paintings by Bocion, Courbet, Hodler, Vallotton and Morandi
• Cabinet cantonal des estampes with over 40,000 prints
• World's largest holdings of works by Oskar Kokoschka
• Pavillon de l'estampe with changing presentations of graphic art
• Neoclassical building from 1897, with two frescoes by Ernest Biéler (1917–1918) in the entrance hall

Permanent exhibitions

• Collection permanente de peintures – The permanent exhibition leads, in changing arrangements, through the museum's painting collection, from François Bocion and Ferdinand Hodler to Giorgio Morandi and Félix Vallotton, setting well-known works alongside rarely shown ones.
• Fondation Oskar Kokoschka – The foundation's holdings comprise over 2,300 paintings and drawings as well as almost the entire lithographic oeuvre of the artist, and are presented by themes such as portrait, landscape, travel and theatre.

Founded

1897

Admission & discounts

Free admission: Free admission on the first weekend of every month

Payment by Visa, Mastercard, Maestro, Postcard and TWINT; cash only in Swiss francs.

Accessibility

• Wheelchair accessible
• Elevator: no information
• Accessible restroom: no information
• Accessible parking: no information
• Service dogs welcome: no information
• Tactile models & exhibits: no information
• Sign language tours: no information
• Easy-to-read materials: no information
• Audio description: no information

The museum is fully accessible for people with reduced mobility and for prams; a wheelchair is available. There is a ramp at the back of the building on Rue des Communaux. The website also provides information for visitors with visual, mobility and hearing impairments.

Kids & families

Great for kids & families

• Family tours & workshops
• Stroller-friendly

The museum has signed the charter "Môm'Art – La famille au musée" and is committed to a child- and family-friendly offering. For school classes from Vevey there is the "Tous au Musée Jenisch" pass, with which the children's families visit free of charge during the school year.

Getting there & parking

Amenities & dining

• Café
• Restaurant: not available
• Museum shop

Salon with coffee, tea and drinks in the entrance hall during opening hours; bookshop with catalogues, postcards and stationery

Events & venue rental

The museum hasn’t published any information on this.

Plan your visit