Tours

Guided tours of open museum collections

21 tours in Auriaan, each a short flight from work to work, with a question at every stop.

For children

• Animal huntEight animals are hiding in works of art from all over the world. Can you find them? 8 works, about 8 minutes.

For students

• 1,800 years of facesTen portraits, from Roman Egypt to Van Gogh. Look for the clues: who, when, and why? 10 works, about 14 minutes.

For everyone

• Artists of Switzerland in the world's museumsTen artists born or at home in Switzerland, from Liotard to Klee, in nine museums around the world. 10 works, about 16 minutes.
• The world around 1600What were artists making around 1600? A journey westward from Japan to Spain, in ten works, most of them made within about ten years of that date. 10 works, about 16 minutes.
• Blue and whiteHow cobalt blue on white travelled from China to Turkey, Holland, Japan, Mexico, Korea and England: ten pieces, roughly in the order they were made. 10 works, about 15 minutes.
• The moonA god, a hare, a bodhisattva, a crescent, a castle, a jar, geese, photographs, the sea and a city by night: the moon in ten works from around the world. 10 works, about 15 minutes.
• The seaWaves, a storm, a calm, a harbour and a sunrise: eight ways of looking at the sea, across 3,000 years. 8 works, about 7 minutes.

Calm · large text

• A walk through the seasonsA calm walk from spring to winter, in eight works. Large text, a gentle voice and no hurry. 8 works, about 15 minutes.

Detective

• Look closerSeven famous works, each with a small detail most people miss. Find it yourself, then hear its story. 7 works, about 9 minutes.

Guess first

• How old is it?Eight works from four museums. Guess when each was made before you hear the story: some are far older than they look, and two are younger. 8 works, about 9 minutes.

One artist

• Albrecht DürerEleven works by the painter and printmaker from Nuremberg: a self-portrait, a rhinoceros and a magic square. 11 works, about 17 minutes.
• Rembrandt, in the mirrorTen self-portraits, painted, etched and drawn: from the curly-haired young man to the old master. 10 works, about 15 minutes.
• VermeerThirteen of his rare paintings, in the order he made them: quiet rooms, letters and light. 13 works, about 20 minutes.
• Giovanni Battista PiranesiRome, real and imagined, in the order he etched it: ruins, squares, prisons, temples and a fireplace. 11 works, about 16 minutes.
• J. M. W. TurnerStorms, fire, moonlight and golden haze, in order of date: from a Welsh castle to a storm at sea. 11 works, about 17 minutes.
• Hokusai & HiroshigeThe two masters of the Japanese landscape print, side by side: ten prints, in roughly the order they were made. 10 works, about 15 minutes.
• Claude MonetEleven paintings in the order he made them: the sea, Camille, grainstacks, a cathedral, London fog and his pond. 11 works, about 17 minutes.
• Mary CassattFrom Seville to Paris: a theatre box, a letter, an omnibus and a boat trip. Ten paintings, prints and a pastel, in the order she made them. 10 works, about 15 minutes.
• Helene SchjerfbeckFrom a soldier in the snow to a face of a few strokes: ten works, in the order she made them. 10 works, about 15 minutes.
• Van GoghTen years of work, from the grey Dutch coast to the colours of the south: eleven works, in the order he made them. 11 works, about 17 minutes.
• Vilhelm HammershøiGrey rooms, white doors, light on the floor and a woman seen from behind: ten works, roughly in the order he made them. 10 works, about 15 minutes.