The Belvedere is presenting selected works from the Villa Langmatt collection, one of the earliest and most extensive private collections of French Impressionism in Switzerland.

The Art Nouveau Villa Langmatt was not only the residence of Jenny and Sidney Brown but also a space dedicated to their passion for art. The Browns started focusing on French art in around 1907, first acquiring an oil painting by Paul Gauguin, a painting by Claude Monet, and several pictures by Paul Cézanne, before amassing a larger group of works by this artist in subsequent years. The couple were particularly interested in the artist Pierre-Auguste Renoir and collected an extensive selection of his paintings. The quality of this collection is also demonstrated by a group of outstanding works by Camille Corot.

Over many years, the Browns systematically built up a collection of French Impressionism and its forerunners that is representative in its scope whilst at the same time reflecting their personal tastes. The couple’s collecting was not only a private passion but can also be seen in the context of the altered, modernized self-image of the Swiss industrial bourgeoisie.