Musée Rath
The Musée Rath is an art museum in Geneva, used exclusively for temporary exhibitions. Its building is the oldest purpose-built art museum in Switzerland, and the original home of Geneva's Musée d'Art et d'Histoire. It is located on Place Neuve, in front of the old city walls, next to the Grand Théâtre and near the Conservatoire de Musique.
Also recorded as Musee Rath
Musée Rath
Grototoro · CC BY-SA 3.0
- Founded
- 1826.
- Headquarters
- Switzerland.
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Documentary summary
The Musée Rath is an art museum in Geneva, used exclusively for temporary exhibitions. Its building is the oldest purpose-built art museum in Switzerland, and the original home of Geneva's Musée d'Art et d'Histoire. It is located on Place Neuve, in front of the old city walls, next to the Grand Théâtre and near the Conservatoire de Musique.
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wikipedia incomplete · checked 25 September 2026
- Identity
- resolved
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Authority files
gnd · 2073187-5 · loc · n81006504 · museum · 15256715 · wikidata · Q673396 · wikipedia · Musée Rath
In this article
History
History
The museum was built between 1824 and 1826 by the architect Samuel Vaucher on behalf of the Société des arts. It was partly paid for with funds that General Simon Rath (1766–1819) had bequeathed to his sisters, Jeanne-Françoise and Henriette Rath, for such a purpose; the remainder was paid by the state of Geneva. Vaucher designed the building as a temple of the muses, inspired by Ancient Greek temples. From 1826 to 1872, the school École Supérieure des Beaux-Arts, Genève was located in the basement of the Musée Rath. At first the museum was used for both permanent and temporary exhibitions, as well as art teaching and as a cultural meeting place. By 1880 it had become too small for its collections. Since the opening of the larger Musée d'Art et d'Histoire in 1910, the Musée Rath has been devoted to temporary exhibitions of Swiss and international art, and archaeology. Between 1916 and 1919 the museum was closed and the building was used for the Red Cross's International Prisoners-of-War Agency. The museum has been owned by the city of Geneva since 1851. The building has been under cultural heritage management since 1921.
Institutional history
Dated record
Institutional history
Explore 1826–2010
The full dated record · 4 entries
1826
Musée Rath established.
1826
Musée Rath is recorded from 1826.
1826
Musée Rath was established or created on 1 January 1826.
2010
Corot en Suisse: [exposition, musée Rath, Genève, du 24 septembre 2010 au 9 janvier 2011] (2010) is digitised and catalogued by Internet Archive.
Primary material
Documents and archives
reference work
- Wikidata, structured authority record Q673396: Musée Rath
Reputable secondary · Wikidata
- “Musée Rath”, English Wikipedia, consulted as further reading
Reputable secondary · Wikipedia
Institutional database
- OpenStreetMap gazetteer entry for Musée Rath, Place Neuve, Vieille-Ville, Les Tranchées, Cité, Genève, 1204, Schweiz/Suisse/Svizzera/Svizra
Scholarly · OpenStreetMap Foundation
authority file
- Gemeinsame Normdatei 2073187-5, Musée Rath.
Unverified · Deutsche Nationalbibliothek
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
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References
Citations
References
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Institutional database
OpenStreetMap gazetteer entry for Musée Rath, Place Neuve, Vieille-Ville, Les Tranchées, Cité, Genève, 1204, Schweiz/Suisse/Svizzera/SvizraOpenStreetMap Foundation
Verifiedauthority file
Gemeinsame Normdatei 2073187-5, Musée Rath.Deutsche Nationalbibliothek
Partially resolvedscholarly index
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Partially resolved
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 14 August 2026.
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3,152 published records in this field, each with its sources named.
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