The Kunsthalle Bern library is composed of various inventories. A comprehensive selection of monographs by artists and exhibition catalogs form the main inventory, which has been built up over a period of more than 100 years since the Kunsthalle was founded. In addition, the library includes anthologies and thematic collections of essays on individual exhibitions, local art happenings, and the focal points of previous directors, as well as a collection of various contemporary art magazines. In 2019 the library was reorganized and is now accessible free of charge to members of the Kunsthalle Bern Association and for research purposes by appointment via info_at_kunsthalle-bern.ch.

Ganz Gachnang

We are pleased to announce the addition of an edition of Ganz Gachnang to the Kunsthalle Bern library, a piece of furniture designed by the Bernese artist Christian Grogg, which comprises the publishing oeuvre of Johannes Gachnang. 

Johannes Gachnang was the director of Kunsthalle Bern from 1974 to 1982. During this time he curated exhibitions by artists such as Antonius Höckelmann, A.R. Penck, Georg Baselitz, Stanley Brouwn, Markus Raetz, Marcel Broodthaers and Pierre Klossowski while he also published books.

Gachnang himself was an artist, curator and publisher. In 1983 he founded the art book publishing house Gachnang & Springer, Bern–Berlin with the gallerist Rudolf Springer, where he published outstanding and timeless books on artists such as Karen Appel, Georg Baselitz, William N. Copley, Christa Dichgans, Jean Dubuffet, Michel Foucault, Jean-Luc Godard, Pierre Klossowski, Meret Oppenheim, Sigmar Polke, Vaclav Pozarek and many more.

“The program of the publishing house is supported by four different pillars, that is, by four main areas to be worked on: catalog raisonné / essay / pamphlet / drawings. The catalog raisonné and drawings series circumscribe the actual work of befriended visual artists, which is continued with words on a different level and with the series essay. The pamphlet series, on the other hand, attempts to capture discussions around specific themes that have immediate and further connection to the first three series and claim broader interest.”
Johannes Gachnang

The library can be visited and used by appointment via info_at_kunsthalle-bern.ch