Museo Castello San Materno

In the heart of Ascona in the Canton of Ticino, the Museo Castello San Materno – Fondazione per la cultura Kurt e Barbara Alten combines historic architecture with a significant private art collection. The museum is affiliated with the Museo comunale d’arte moderna in Ascona and uses the town-defining Castello San Materno as its exhibition venue.

The castle stands on a hill at the entrance to Ascona. Its building history goes back to the 6th–8th centuries. The medieval complex, with the Romanesque chapel San Materno, underwent changes, expansions and periods of decay. In the mid-19th century the property was restored, and in August 1919 the castle passed into the ownership of a family; it subsequently developed into a meeting place for writers, musicians, artists and dancers. After the death of the last private owner, the municipality of Ascona acquired the site in 1987, but it continued to deteriorate. At the initiative of the donor and the Kulturstiftung Kurt und Barbara Alten, and with financial support from the foundation, the Canton of Ticino and the municipality, the building was comprehensively restored and opened as a museum in April 2014.

The collection of the Kulturstiftung Kurt und Barbara Alten from Solothurn forms the core of the exhibition. It was assembled mainly in the 1980s and 1990s. In a permanent display, works from the Worpswede artists’ colony, German Impressionism and Expressionism are central. On view are paintings by Paula Modersohn-Becker, Otto Modersohn, Fritz Overbeck and Hans am Ende, as well as works by Max Liebermann and Lovis Corinth. Works by members of the Brücke and Der Blaue Reiter groups are also part of the collection, including pieces by Erich Heckel, Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Hermann Max Pechstein and Alexej von Jawlensky; some holdings are currently not on display. Watercolours by Christian Rohlfs, Emil Nolde and August Macke complement the presentation. Remnants of a fresco featuring a Majestas Domini from the 11th century are preserved in the apse vault of the chapel; on the upper floor there is a modern ceiling fresco by Andreas Jawlensky. Since 2016 a summer special exhibition has supplemented the program.

The Kulturstiftung Kurt und Barbara Alten was founded in 2002 in Solothurn. It pursues charitable aims to promote art and culture in the Espace Mittelland region and awards a grant every two years, particularly to promising young artists.