In the 1940s, a Swiss insurance company based in Basel had bought two paintings by Picasso to diversify its investments and serve as a guarantee for the insured risks. Following an air disaster (Globe Air in 1967), the company had to pay out heavy reimbursements. The company decided to part with the two paintings, which were deposited in the Kunstmuseum Basel.
People protested and wanted Basel to keep the Picasso paintings
In 1968, a large number of Basel citizens called for a local referendum on the purchase of the Picassos by the Canton of Basel-Stadt. Local artists and citizens were generally caught up in a wave of euphoria. They set up a campaign to raise the missing amount of CHF2.4 million needed to buy the paintings. The fiery debate on the Rhine spread across the rest of German-speaking Switzerland. The canton of St Gallen promised a donation, the neighbouring canton of Basel Country shelled out CHF80,000 without even being asked, even the Basel municipality of Binningen found CHF2,000 for the cause.
Once large donations from the local pharmaceutical industry and the super-rich upper classes of Basel came through, a total of CHF2.5 million was tallied – CHF100,000 more than necessary.
But one man was utterly disgusted at the enthusiasm for the two Picassos. Alfred Lauper, a garage owner, had lost a lot of money through the bankruptcy of Globe Air as a small shareholder, and saw no need for the public authorities to invest in high art. Lauper initiated a petition against the parliamentary decision and quickly gathered enough signatures for a referendum, making it the first time in democratic history that the population of a city voted on the purchase of works of art for a public art museum.
The referendum was success for the yes-side and the paintings therefore remain in the museum in Basel. Informed of this, Picasso was so pleased he donated three additional paintings and a sketch to the city and its museum. He was later made an honorary citizen by the city.
The Picasso paintings on view at the Kunstmuseum Basel
The two Picasso paintings the city purchased are: “Les deux frères,” painted in 1905, and “Arlequin assis,” from 1923. They mark the beginning and end of Picasso’s Cubism phase.
