Ghisla Art Collection Foundation

Located in the heart of Locarno, just a short walk from the lake and the harbour, the Fondazione Ghisla Art Collection is today one of the most significant cultural institutions in the Swiss contemporary art landscape. Established in 2014 as a non-profit foundation, it was created by collectors Martine and Pierino Ghisla with the aim of sharing an art collection of international relevance with the public, transforming a private passion into an open and accessible cultural project.
The Foundation is housed in a striking contemporary building designed by the Locarno-based architecture studio Moro & Moro and holds a collection of more than 280 works spanning the major artistic movements of the 20th and 21st centuries. Alongside its permanent collection, the Foundation presents a dynamic programme of temporary exhibitions that foster dialogue between historical masterpieces and contemporary artistic research.
The 2026 exhibition programme opens with La Tana del Matto (The Fool’s Den), a major solo exhibition by Belgian artist Joris Van de Moortel, on view from 21 March to 23 August. The first two floors of the museum are transformed into a fully immersive installation conceived as a symbolic and mental “den”, where painting, sculpture, sound, light and writing coexist. Drawing on Northern European art history, mysticism, music and madness as a form of knowledge, the exhibition invites visitors into a non-linear journey in which the sacred and the profane, past and present, order and chaos constantly intertwine.
Alongside the temporary exhibition, the top floor of the museum presents Scelta 2026 from the Ghisla Collection, a curated selection from the historical core of the permanent collection. Featuring 34 works by artists who have profoundly shaped the last eighty years of art history, the exhibition offers a broad overview of key international movements, from Pop Art and Surrealism to Spatialism, Graffiti Art and post-war experimentation. Artists such as Jean-Michel Basquiat, Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein, René Magritte, Joan Miró, Pablo Picasso and Lucio Fontana are brought together in a display that encourages visitors to rediscover art history as a network of relationships and dialogues.
With this dual exhibition programme, the Fondazione Ghisla Art Collection reaffirms its role as a vibrant cultural hub where contemporary research meets the great chapters of modern and contemporary art, offering Locarno and its visitors a cultural experience of international scope.

MUSEUMS

• Art museums