The Foundation
In the name of the board of the foundation, I would like to welcome you to the official homepage of the Fondazione Marguerite Arp-Hagenbach, Ronco dei Fiori. Marguerite Arp-Hagenbach (1902–1994), an art collector and the second wife of Jean Arp (1886–1966), established the foundation in Locarno on 4 February 1988. She began her collecting activities in 1937. Over the decades that followed, she created one of the most important private collections of international art of the twentieth century in Switzerland. In 1959, the year they married, Jean Arp and Marguerite Hagenbach purchased the property Ronco dei Fiori in Locarno-Solduno and it became the couple’s preferred location to live and work.
Dr Franco Pedrazzini
President of the Foundation Board
Organisation
The organ of the foundation is the foundation board. The foundation board is made up of seven members:
Dr Franco Pedrazzini (President)
Dr Jakob Bill
Myriam Gebert
Dr Gabriele Lohberg
Stefanie Gschwend
Dr Max Rudolf Staehelin
Tiziana Zaninelli
Team
Director
Dr. Simona Martinoli
Assistant director
Raffaella Zala
Head of library
Gian Franco Ragno
Scientific associate
Dr. Silke Balemi
Guardian
Sacha Golubovic
Guided visits and educational activities
Dr. Silke Balemi, Miriana Ventre
Hospitality and surveillance
Gian Franco Ragno, Miriana Ventre
Photo © Roberto Pellegrini
Aims and activites
The foundation was established in 1988.
The purposes of the foundation are:
- The conservation, care, cataloguing and promotion of the artworks of Jean Arp, Sophie Taeuber-Arp and the private collection of Jean and Marguerite Arp, at the property Ronco dei Fiori in Locarno-Solduno;
- The organisation of cultural activities in the exhibition space and/or in the garden Ronco dei Fiori;
- The preservation, care and classification of volumes, manuscripts and correspondence, and the publication and correct distribution of texts, manuscripts and correspondence written by Jean Arp, Sophie Taeuber-Arp and Marguerite Arp-Hagenbach;
- The maintenance and care of the property Ronco dei Fiori in Locarno-Solduno, to be preserved in memory of Jean Arp and Marguerite Arp-Hagenbach;
- The provision of support for scientific and artistic research on Jean Arp, Sophie Taeuber-Arp and Marguerite Arp-Hagenbach.
The foundation is recognised as a non-profit organisation and does not pursue any commercial aims.
The activities of the Fondazione Marguerite Arp are derived from the wishes of its founder:
- the foundation promotes the work of Jean Arp and Sophie Taeuber-Arp through lending works from the collection for participation in international exhibitions – of which there have been over 100 since the foundation was establishment.
- the foundation sees itself as a place for research on the oeuvres of Jean Arp and Sophie Taeuber-Arp. The documentation is continuously being supplemented, and sales of works on the national and international art market are registered. The foundation observes the moral right endorsed by Marguerite Arp. For research purposes, it is possible to consult the archives and the library, and/or view the artworks of the collection. The Foundation also provides archival information.
- the foundation sets up small expositions in the new exhibition space. It also organizes guided tours for groups by appointment.
- researchers from around the world can stay at its guesthouse to conduct their studies on Jean Arp and Sophie Taeuber-Arp.
Residence and Studio house
In February 1959, Jean Arp and Marguerite Hagenbach purchased a ca. 4,600-m2-large property in Locarno-Solduno. The property, which is named Ronco dei Fiori, consisted of an old Ticino residential house, an extensive garden as well as a vineyard. After various renovations, the couple moved into the house in May 1960.
Continue…Exhibition space and garden
Arp’s intention to erect ‘a type of gallery building’ on the property in Solduno in order to be able to present at least part of their joint collection has been handed down from 1965. Nearly fifty years later, in the summer of 2014, this plan was finally realized.
Continue…Partner
Since 2000, the Fondazione Marguerite Arp has been cooperating closely with the Stiftung Liner Appenzell (now the Heinrich Gebert Kulturstiftung Appenzell). The main aims of this cooperating are maintaining the Fondazione Marguerite Arp in its current form, regularly presenting works by Jean Arp in Appenzell and jointly developing exhibitions. This foundation alliance, which goes back to an initiative by Heinrich Gebert, has also made possible the construction of the new depot and exhibition building.