The Bechtler presents an enlightening lecture on September 20 by Roland Wetzel, director of the Museum Tinguely in Basel, Switzerland. 

Museum Tinguely is dedicated to the artwork of Jean Tinguely (1925-1991), who grew up in Basel and became one of the most innovative and important Swiss artists of the 20th century. He was a close friend of the Bechtler family, patrons of the Bechtler Museum of Modern Art. Situated on the banks of the Rhine, Museum Tinguely was designed by renowned Swiss architect Mario Botta, who also designed the Bechtler building. Founded in 1996, the museum's permanent collection presents a changing selection of the artist’s kinetic sculptures, reliefs and drawings from all periods of his career.

The lecture, Museum Tinguely: A Place in Constant Movement, will highlight the Swiss museum's founding by Tinguely’s artist wife Niki de Saint Phalle, its architecture and its role as a “moving” place in Basel and in the international art world. The lecture will serve as a supplement to the Bechtler exhibition Remembering Cascade: Tinguely’s Last Sculpture, which opens September 9 and runs through January 16, 2012 in the second-floor gallery.

Prior to his position with Museum Tinguely, Wetzel served as curator and management assistant at the Fine Arts Museum in Basel. He is a graduate of the University of Zurich and gained international acclaim for his exhibition on Robert Delaunay.

The lecture begins at 6 p.m. in the Wells Fargo Auditorium (in the lower level of the Knight Theater adjacent to the Bechtler). Tickets are free for members, $10 for non-members. Purchase online, by phone at 704.353.9200 or at the visitor services desk.