BEYELER FOUNDATION

Basel, Switzerland

Though 1997 in the art world is best remembered for the seismic arrivals of the Guggenheim and Getty, a third influential gallery made a quieter entrance. The Beyeler Foundation is a public museum with a private feel, built beyond the city with the serenity of a modern Greek temple. The exacting standards of art dealer Ernst Beyeler, who founded it with wife Hildy, are the stuff of legend – it took three years to develop the lightweight glass roof, which maximises daylight cast into the exhibition spaces below, and he later had the gallery repainted a new shade of white while the project director was away. The difference was imperceptible. fondationbeyeler.ch