Sils Museum

About the museum

The painter Andrea Robbi (1864–1945) grew up in Carrara and in Saluzzo near Turin, where his parents ran a pastry shop; the family spent its summers in Sils Maria, the home village of his father. After training in Munich, he studied at the Académie Julian in Paris from 1888 to 1891 and copied old masters in Rome and Milan. Back in Sils, he withdrew from the art world, gave up painting in 1898 and lived in seclusion in the village for almost five more decades. His work, of which only a small part survives, fell into oblivion until the Engadine artist Giuliano Pedretti rediscovered it about forty years after Robbi's death.

To dedicate a museum to Robbi, a small group of art lovers founded the Andrea Robbi Stiftung in 1990. Since 1995 the museum has been housed in the Chesa Fonio in the village center of Sils Maria, a classicist palazzo that the Puonz family had built around 1800. The house later belonged to the Fonio family, who gave it to the Protestant parish in 1980.

In 2018 the foundation was reorganized and the house was renamed the Sils Museum. Alongside caring for Robbi's estate of oil paintings, drawings and watercolors, it has since also devoted itself to the cultural history of Sils and Upper Engadine and invites guest artists. Exhibitions change in the round exhibition room in the basement, while a selection of Robbi's paintings can be seen in the historic stüva near the entrance.

Highlights

• Paintings by the Sils painter Andrea Robbi (1864–1945)
• Historic stüva in the classicist Chesa Fonio
• Round exhibition room with themes from the cultural history of Sils and the Engadine
• Guided tour every Tuesday at 17:00, included in admission

Permanent exhibition

• Andrea Robbi in der Stüva – A small selection of paintings by the Sils painter Andrea Robbi, whose estate the foundation looks after, is on display in the historic stüva next to the entrance.

Founded

1995

Operated by

Andrea Robbi Stiftung

Admission & discounts

The Tuesday guided tour is included in admission.

Accessibility

The museum hasn’t published any information on this.

Kids & families

The museum hasn’t published any information on this.

Getting there & parking

The museum is in the village center of Sils Maria, in the Chesa Fonio.

Amenities & dining

The book “Sils im Engadin – ein Porträt” is available at the museum.

Events & venue rental

The museum hasn’t published any information on this.

Plan your visit