Drawings tell stories, be it in comics, graphic novels, reportage, cartoons, caricatures or animations. As Switzerland’s leading museum of narrative art, Cartoonmuseum Basel is dedicated to this diverse art form – collecting, presenting and conveying it, and thus making an important contribution to discussion of the social issues that it addresses.

Cartoonmuseum Basel has established itself Europe-wide as a centre of excellence for narrative visual art, in terms of research, mediation and presentation. The museum’s origins lie in its significant collection of over 12,000 original works by renowned Swiss and international artists. With these holdings as a basis, it focuses on meticulously curated exhibitions, either with topical themes or about the output of individual artists.

All exhibitions are multilingual and geared towards an international audience. Cartoonmuseum Basel documents, mediates, promotes and scrutinises the art of narrative drawing. Here, everything revolves around drawing as an independent art form, as well as the creative process of producing images and stories. The exhibitions offer insight into various drawing styles, traditions and artists’ positions, while also situating the exhibits within their historical, cultural or social context. The thematic spectrum ranges from classic to contemporary works, and from themed exhibitions to comprehensive retrospectives on individual artists. Related genres, such as illustration, animation and stand-alone drawing, are also integrated into the programme. In this way, Cartoonmuseum Basel provides a lively venue for exchanges, appealing not only to established art enthusiasts, but also to a younger generation of artists and a youthful audience.

The founder and benefactor of Cartoonmuseum Basel was the Basel patron Dieter Burckhardt (1914–1991), who wanted to make his private collection of caricatures and cartoons accessible to a wider audience. In 1979, he set up a foundation called Stiftung Sammlung Karikaturen & Cartoons, which is still managed by the Christoph Merian Foundation to this day. From the very start, both the collection and the museum have operated without any public funding. Already in 1980, the first exhibition opened: at St. Alban-Vorstadt 9.

In 1991, Stiftung Sammlung Karikaturen & Cartoons succeeded in acquiring an old townhouse at St. Alban-Vorstadt 28. This was subsequently renovated by the renowned Basel architects Herzog & de Meuron, who also extended it by adding a new building. Thus, the exhibition space was significantly enlarged, and there was more room for the library and shop. The new Karikatur & Cartoon Museum Basel opened in May 1996.

In 2009, the Karikatur & Cartoon Museum was renamed Cartoonmuseum Basel. It positions itself as the only Swiss museum devoted exclusively to narrative art. From December 2023, in a revitalised corporate design, the suffix ‘Centre of Narrative Art’ was added to the name, so as to clarify the mission and aspirations of Cartoonmuseum Basel.

Cartoonmuseum Basel comprises an originally late-Gothic building on a historical stretch of street and a new building behind it, by Herzog & de Meuron. Visitors enter the museum through the old building, which accommodates the foyer, museum shop, library, studio and some of the exhibition rooms. A bright atrium leads to the rear building, with three more exhibition rooms.

Our shop’s hallmark is its huge permanent selection of postcards. In addition, we offer an exquisite range of postcards and albums pertaining to the current exhibition. Alongside the books, the admission vouchers available here are recommended as a gift idea.

We currently have no vacancies.

• 2018 (Download PDF)
• 2019 (Download PDF)
• 2020 (Download PDF)
• 2021 (Download PDF)
• 2022 (Download PDF)
• 2023 (Download PDF) (interactive)
• 2024 (Download PDF) (interactive)
• 2025 (Download PDF) (interactive)