Visit the Museum Tinguely in Basel to see kinetic art sculptural machines in action — many of Swiss artist Jean Tinguely’s métamatics sculptures displayed here are interactive and working.
The Museum Tinguely in Basel is dedicated to the Swiss sculptor, painter, and performance artist Jean Tinguely. He is most famous for his kinetic art sculpture machines, but he also had innovative performances and large projects with other contemporaries, including Niki de Saint Phalle. The museum displays several working kinetic machines, videos, and works on paper, including Tingeluy’s rather unorthodox correspondence materials. Outside the museum, and near Basel’s art museum, visitors may see Tinguely fountains at play.
Museum Tinguely in Basel
The Museum Tinguely in Basel, Switzerland, has the largest collection of works by Jean Tinguely. The collection includes 130 sculptures and around 2,000 works on paper.
Around half of the museum is used for the permanent collection. A variety of special exhibitions change every few months in the rest of the modern museum building. The museum is very active — it has staged over 120 exhibitions since its inception in 1996!
→ Elsewhere in Switzerland, the much smaller Espace Jean Tinguely Niki de Saint Phalle in Fribourg (Freiburg) displays around ten large moving sculptures and a few smaller items by both artists.
La roue = c’est tout
The current permanent exhibition in the Museum Tinguely in Basel, La roue = c’est tout (The wheel = that’s all), opened in early 2023 and is expected to remain in place until at least 2026. It demonstrates the life and work of Tinguely chronologically from the mid-1950s onwards.
Many of the kinetic sculptures are fully functional. Some are activated by a button, while others are choreographed automatically. All have to take a rest of 5 to 15 minutes from time to time — displays indicate the waiting time. Most are noisy — this is not a quiet museum.
In smaller rooms, displays explain many of his designs and collaborative projects. Tinguely was always good at networking and had many exhibitions and projects with other artists, including, of course, several with Niki de Saint Phalle.
His personal correspondence was also interesting. He was a prolific correspondent and would use anything for writing paper, from torn pieces of cardboard boxes as postcards to restaurant serviettes. Many envelopes were decorated and delivered despite being only partly addressed.
A couple of videos explain projects and events. The most notable is Homage to New York, 1960, when Tinguely created a large, self-destructing work in the sculpture garden of the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA). Five minor items survived the planned destruction. The largest item, Homage to New York (Klaxon), 1960, is on show.
Jean Tinguely (1925–1991)
Jean Tinguely (1925–1991) was one of Switzerland’s most inventive and unconventional modern artists, best known for his playful and chaotic kinetic sculptures. Born in Fribourg and raised in Basel, he developed a fascination with movement and mechanics. Instead of creating static works of art, Tinguely built machines that clattered, whirred, and often self-destructed, blurring the line between engineering and performance. His pieces were humorous, unpredictable, and sometimes satirical. He often poked fun at consumer culture and the seriousness of the art world.
After moving to Paris in the 1950s, Tinguely became associated with the avant-garde Nouveau Réalisme movement, collaborating with artists such as Yves Klein and his second wife, Niki de Saint Phalle.
One of Jean Tinguely’s most famous kinetic art and performance projects was Homage to New York (1960). This massive self-destroying machine that (intentionally) collapsed spectacularly in the sculpture garden of the Museum of Modern Art. (A few surviving pieces are displayed in Basel.)
“The dream is everything – technique can be learned.”
Jean Tinguely
Tinguely’s machines are in museums and public spaces worldwide, ensuring his legacy as a pioneer of kinetic art continues to captivate audiences.
Three fountains are popular and easy to visit: In Paris, the Stravinsky Fountain (1983), created with Niki de Saint Phalle, remains a beloved landmark at the Centre Pompidou. In Basel, see the Carneval Fountain (1977) near the Kunstmuseum, and in Fribourg, the Fontaine Jo Siffert (1984).
Tinguely’s Car Fetish
A special section deals with Tinguely’s car fetish. He loved Formula 1 and described cars as the most beautiful artworks in the world. Unfortunately, the danger of motor racing in the 1960s and 1970s meant several works are memorials to the racing deaths of close friends.
Several late works are made of car parts, but include animal skulls as a reminder of the risk of death when traveling at high speed:
- Schreckenskarrette – Viva Ferrari (1985) is an iron car inspired by an ancient chariot
- Lola T180 – Mémorial pour Joakim B. (1988) resembles a winged altarpiece. It was built out of two Lola racing car chassis to commemorate the accidental death of Swedish driver Joakim Bonnier during the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1972.
Less speedy, but in a similar style, is the Hippopotamus (1991). This behemoth was produced using a tar barrel on wheels, scrap iron, motorcycle parts, hoses, and a hippopotamus skull
The sculpture group Fünf Witwen (Five Widows, 1969), made by his first wife Eva Aeppli (1925-2015), is seen as a memorial to the dead racing drivers like Tinguely’s close friends Jim Clark, Jo Siffert, and Bonnier.
Music Machines and Large-Scale Sculptures
The highlight of the current main exhibition is the final, large hall of the museum. Here are several large music machines and sculptures.
The walk-through Grosse Méta-Maxi-Maxi-Utopia (1987), made for his retrospective at Palazzo Grassi in Venice, is Tinguely’s largest museum sculpture. He intended it as the entrance to the exhibition, but that idea was rejected on safety grounds. However, in Basel, visitors may still freely climb the ladders and walk through this machine while it is in operation. (Enter at your own risk, and no, it is not idiot proof!)
Tinguely’s machine sculptures were noisy, but he often intentionally placed acoustics central in his music machines. One of the largest is in the museum: the Méta-Harmonie II (1979), which plays hourly on the full hour.
Visitor Information: Museum Tinguely in Basel
Opening Hours and Tickets for the Museum Tinguely
The Museum Tinguely in Basel is open Tuesday to Sunday from 11:00 to 18:00, closing at 21:00 on Thursdays.
The museum is closed on Mondays and open on most public holidays, except on December 25.
Tickets for the Museum Tinguely are CHF18 for adults, CHF12 for students, and free for children under 16.
Admission is free on Thursday evenings from 18:00 to 21:00.
The BaselCard (50% off), Swiss Museum Pass (free), and Swiss Travel Pass (free) are accepted.
Buy tickets online or directly at the museum in person. Time-slot reservations are usually not used.
Transportation to the Museum Tinguely
The Museum Tinguely, Paul Sacher-Anlage 1, 4058 Basel, Switzerland, is beautifully located in a park on the northern banks of the Rhine (“Germany” side). Although public transportation is easy, consider walking at least one way from the city center along the banks of the Rhine River to the museum. The closest parking garage is at Badischer Bahnhof.
By Bus (and Tram) to the Tinguely Museum in Basel:
Use the bus stop “Tinguely Museum” — keep in mind that overnight hotel guests in Basel qualify for the BaselCard, which includes public transportation and a discount at the museums. Walking, at least part of the way, is often a pleasant alternative.
- From the Basel SBB (main train station) and the Kunstmuseum Basel: take tram 1 or 2, and change at Wettensteinplatz to bus 31 or 38.
- From the city center: use bus 31 or 38 from Schifflände (near old town / Marktplatz / Rathaus) or from Claraplatz.
- From Badischer Bahnhof (Basel Bad SBB / DB): use bus 36, or a 15-minute walk. (Good pavements, but it is next to a busy street and railway line.)
- From EuroAirport Basel / Mulhouse / Freiburg airport: use Bus 50 to Basel SBB and then the tram.
Walking: the most direct route from Claraplatz takes about 25 minutes (or 10 minutes from Wettensteinplatz). The far more pleasant stroll along the Rhine promenade will add only about five minutes. (However, you’re likely to linger longer to enjoy the views, including the Basler Münster towering over the valley.) Even from the city center, such as the Kunstmuseum and Barfüsserkirche area with the wonderful Tinguely Carneval Fountain, walking won’t take much longer than half an hour.