LUCID LUCERNE

From a vast collection of never-before-seen works by Picasso to a brutalist swimming hall-turned-exhibition space: Lucerne is an unexpected destination for great art

- By Coco Marett

Colour me shocked. No, really, because when I stepped off the train in Lucerne, I expected the quintessential Swiss experience: a shimmering lake enveloped by mountains and a picturesque Old Town with a medieval bridge. Those things do exist and are all very charming. But this city, with its storybook façade, also has a few tricks up its sleeve—one of them being its unexpected art scene.

With everything from galleries housed in former national banks to contemporary art spaces located in old municipal swimming pools, Lucerne’s artistic pulse is strong and surprising.

Sammlung Rosengart

One of the most underrated and lesser-known art museums in the world, you won't find Sammlung Rosengart—also known as The Rosengart Collection—in most guides. Housed in a neoclassical building that was constructed in 1924 as a branch of the Swiss National Bank, the museum is privately owned by Angela Rosengart, daughter of prominent art dealer Siegfried Rosengart, and features a jaw-dropping repertoire that includes pieces from the family's private collection. There are more than 130 works by Pablo Picasso—a close friend of the family—which include 32 paintings, as well as drawings, watercolours, sketches and sculptures. There's an entire floor dedicated to the works of Paul Klee, and rooms that house works by the likes of Claude Monet, Henri Matisse and Marc Chagall.