Ariana Museum - Ceramic and Glass Art

12 centuries of ceramic history, 7 centuries of glass production: the Ariana Museum documents both ceramic and glass production with over 20,000 exhibits from Switzerland, Europe, the Near East and Far East. The museum is located in a park on the banks of Lake Geneva.

The ceramic and glass museum Ariana was founded by Gustave Revilliod, who was from Geneva. He ordered the construction of a building combining the Neo-Classical and New Baroque architectural style to house his private art collection. The edifice, built between the years of 1877 and 1884, is located near the Palais des Nations, the headquarters of the United Nations in Europe. He named the building after his mother, Ariana, and bequeathed it, along with other real estate and assets to the city of Geneva.

Today the Ariana Museum houses 20,000 ceramic and glass obects from 12 centuries, is appreciated far beyond the borders of Switzerland and is the seat of the International Academy of Ceramics (which has about 400 members worldwide).

The Ariana Museum also known as the Swiss Museum of Ceramics and Glass, is located in Geneva, in the park of the same name.

The building stands a stone's throw from the Palais des Nations, the European headquarters of the UN.

History

Gustave Revilliod, a collector and patron, built a private museum to receive his personal collections (ceramics, paintings, sculptures, coins, etc.). Built between 1877 and 1884 by architects Émile Grobéty and Jacques-Élysée Goss, it became the property of the City after his death in 1890. It was attached to the Museum of Art and History in 1934 and later specialized in ceramics (stoneware, earthenware, porcelain). In 1993, the museum was reopened to the public after twelve years of renovation work and the construction of a cultural property shelter. Since May 2010, the Ariana Museum has been independent of the Museum of Art and History and joined as a fifth museum institution the community of municipal museums in Geneva.

Architecture

The plan of the building, of sumptuous architecture, consists of two symmetrical wings, separated from a large hall surrounded by a colonnade on two floors and crowned with an elliptical dome.

Its starry vault, as well as the two sphinxes which watch over the main entrance on the lake side, are the work of Émile-Dominique Fasanino (1851-1910), and are a special feature among Geneva's museums.

contact

Musée Ariana
Avenue de la Paix 10
1202 Genève
Tel. +41 (0)22 418 54 50
Fax +41 (0)22 418 54 51