This publication focuses on the question of how contemporary art has been communicated and received in Solothurn over the past 150 years. Seventeen art historians describe the cultural environment and changing forms of presentation on the basis of exemplary exhibitions and events.
Two detailed texts describe from an institutional-historical and art-sociological perspective the basis and climate in which and in which regional, national and international art was exhibited in Solothurn and communicated to a more or less interested public. It is shown where opportunities were seized and where they were missed, where exciting approaches existed but were not pursued further due to lack of interest or hostility, and where the persistence of individuals led to broad acceptance.
By describing and analysing art mediation within the manageable framework of a small Swiss town over the last 150 years, the book will help to gain a deeper understanding of the factors that led to cultural heydays, but also to periods of stagnation. This provides insights into Solothurn's cultural landscape that can also be significant and groundbreaking for the rest of Switzerland. This publication, which was produced to mark the 150th anniversary of the Solothurn Art Association, is intended as a contribution to the art and cultural history of Switzerland.