Bechtler Museum of Modern Art

The Bechtler Museum of Modern Art is dedicated to the exhibition of mid-20th-century modern art. The museum is named after the family, who assembled a collection of over 1,400 artworks created by significant figures of 20th-century modernism.

The museum’s collection reflects the important art movements and schools from the 20th century with a focus on the School of Paris after World War II.

The collection comprises modern art in various media by artists such as Joan Miró, Max Ernst, Andy Warhol, Barbara Hepworth, and Pablo Picasso.

The museum is a four-story structure with a soaring glass atrium that extends through the museum’s core and diffuses natural light throughout the building. The open atrium is partnered with a vaulted skylight system and a terra cotta exterior.

The fourth-floor gallery flies out from the core of the building, cantilevered and supported by the swelling column rising from the plaza outside the building.

“Werk Nr. 1579” by Raffael Benazzi, 1978 – Bechtler Museum of Modern Art, Charlotte, North Carolina

Highlights of the Bechtler Museum of Modern Art

School of Paris collection – embracing the modern works from Europe during the years after World War II
American Artists collection – a rich collection of Amerian artists including Mark Tobey’s artworks from his many years in Zurich, Switzerland
British Artists collection – a selection of British artists who formed relationships with the Bechtlers, especially Ben Nicholson who spent his summers in Ascona, the Italian region of Switzerland
“The Firebird” by Niki de Saint Phalle – a sculpture that is 17 feet, 5 inches tall, and is composed of 7,500 mirror mosaics over polyester on a steel armature