The Julius Baer Art Collection celebrated its fortieth anniversary in 2021. It was in 1981 that Hans J. Baer (1927–2011) first established the art committee: its purpose, then and now, to acquire works by young Swiss artists for the Julius Baer Art Collection in order to support the Swiss art scene and promote new talent. Collecting art is in the DNA of Bank Julius Baer: the banking family has been passionately committed to art for generations. This enthusiasm has been passed on to the company, where the promotion of young art is regarded as a social responsibility. It is also recognised as a key component of its corporate culture, because art in the workplace – in the corridors, foyers and client zones of the bank – gives staff and clients alike a fitting and inspirational setting for exchanging new ideas and opinions.

The art committee, which is responsible for purchasing new works, consists of five art aficionados among the staff at Bank Julius Baer as well as the curator of the art collection, Barbara Staubli, and Giovanni Carmine, the director of Kunsthalle St. Gallen, as an external expert. The members of the committee meet four to five times per year, regularly attending exhibitions and art fairs and visiting art studios in order to keep abreast of developments and tendencies in the art scene.

The committee follows a very specific purchasing strategy: artists whose works enter the collection should already have demonstrated their creativity and innovation, either by participating in exhibitions at art institutions or galleries or by receiving scholarships and art prizes. In arriving at a decision, the committee focuses on the originality of the artistic approach and the quality of each individual work. In the first three decades the main emphasis was placed on supporting up-and-coming young artists, whereas in recent years the committee has increasingly acquired works that represent various periods of an artist’s career, thereby supplementing, complementing and reflecting their oeuvre.

The Julius Baer Art Collection marks its fortieth anniversary with a selection of forty artworks: that’s one new addition per year, from 1981 through to 2021. The works give insights into this diverse and dynamic collection with its wide spectrum of media, and provide a memorable reflection of the rich variety of artistic trends during this period.