The often overlooked painter and Basel native Irène Zurkinden (1909-87) has her first major show in her hometown since the 1980s. A two-room exhibition at Kulturstiftung Basel H. Geiger explores the breadth of Zurkinden’s work—from portraits and self-portraits to still-lifes and landscapes—as well as drawings and several of her sketchbooks, which are on public view for the first time.
Zurkinden, who started out studying fashion illustration in Basel, made her way to Paris’s Académie de la Grande Chaumière to finish her schooling, inspired by the work and legacy of Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec. She lived between Paris and Basel for years, and was close friends with another celebrated local artist, Meret Oppenheim (who has a simultaneous exhibition at Hauser & Wirth’s Basel gallery, until 19 July). Zurkinden’s portrait of Oppenheim, Meret à l’orange (1932-35), is in Kunstmuseum Basel’s permanent collection; it is now on view as part of the Kulturstiftung exhibition.
• Irène Zurkinden: Love, Life, Kulturstiftung Basel H. Geiger, until 7 September
