Van Gogh collector celebrated in Swiss exhibition
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Gertrud Dübi-Müller, a Swiss woman born in 1888, purchased a Van Gogh portrait at age 19, becoming one of the earliest Swiss collectors of his work.
Orphaned young, Müller inherited wealth that allowed her to buy Portrait of Charles-Elzéard Trabuc in 1908, before Van Gogh gained international fame. She acquired the painting after turning 20, the age required to legally spend her inheritance.
Müller lived a progressive life for her time, travelling to Algeria and Tunisia as a young woman and becoming the first woman in Solothurn to own a car. She also became a photographer specializing in Alpine landscapes and even climbed the Matterhorn mountain. Beyond adventure, Müller developed connections with prominent Swiss artists like Cuno Amiet and Ferdinand Hodler, who introduced her to Van Gogh’s work.
The Van Gogh portrait eventually went to the Kunstmuseum Solothurn, as Müller wished, and is now on loan to the Kunstmuseum Basel for an exhibition celebrating her collecting and pioneering spirit. The exhibition reveals that Müller’s purchase of the portrait inspired Amiet and Giacometti to create a new verb, “van gogheln,” to express their enthusiasm. Müller’s collection, which included works by Cézanne, Matisse, and Klimt, ultimately comprised 190 pieces she bequeathed to the Kunstmuseum Solothurn upon her death in 1980.
