Kunstmuseum Basel in the context of "Basel, Switzerland"

Basel (/ˈbɑːzəl/ BAH-zəl; Swiss Standard German: [ˈbaːzl̩] ), also known as Basle (/bɑːl/ BAHL), is a city in northwestern Switzerland on the river Rhine (at the transition from the High to the Upper Rhine). Basel is Switzerland's third-most-populous city (after Zurich and Geneva), with 177,595 inhabitants within the city municipality limits.

Basel is commonly considered to be the cultural capital of Switzerland and the city is famous for its many museums, including the Kunstmuseum, which is the first collection of art accessible to the public in the world (1661) and the largest museum of art in Switzerland, the Fondation Beyeler (located in Riehen), the Museum Tinguely and the Museum of Contemporary Art, which is the first public museum of contemporary art in Europe. Forty museums are spread throughout the city-canton, making Basel one of the largest cultural centres in relation to its size and population in Europe. It is the hometown of Art Basel, the world's most prestigious and influential international art fair, showcasing modern and contemporary works from leading galleries and attracting top collectors, artists, and enthusiasts globally.

The Ashmolean Museum of Art and Archaeology (/æʃˈmoʊliən, ˌæʃməˈliːən/) on Beaumont Street in Oxford, England, is Britain's first public museum. Its first building was erected in 1678–1683 to house the cabinet of curiosities that Elias Ashmole gave to the University of Oxford in 1677. It is also the world's second university museum, after the establishment of the Kunstmuseum Basel in 1661 by the University of Basel.

The present building was built between 1841 and 1845. The museum reopened in 2009 after a major redevelopment, and in November 2011, new galleries focusing on Egypt and Nubia were unveiled. In May 2016, the museum redisplayed galleries of 19th-century art.

The Museum of Contemporary Art (German: Museum für Gegenwartskunst) in Basel (Switzerland) opened in 1980 as the first public museum in Europe exclusively dedicated to the production and practice of contemporary art from the 1960s to the present. It is a heritage site of national significance.

In addition to classic media such as painting and sculpture, it also collects video art. Focal points of the collection include the work of Joseph Beuys, Bruce Nauman, Rosemarie Trockel, Jeff Wall and some American art (Robert Gober, Elizabeth Peyton, Matthew Barney). The Museum of Contemporary Art displays works of the Emanuel Hoffmann Foundation and the Kunstmuseum Basel. Since 2003, all holdings of the Emanuel Hoffmann Foundation that are not shown in the museum are housed in the Schaulager in Muttenz.

Silverpoint (one of several types of metalpoint) is a traditional drawing technique and tool first used by medieval scribes on manuscripts.