Ghosts: Visualizing the Supernatural

Science, psychology and the supernatural

L'Esprit comique [Der komische Geist], René Magritte, 1928. Courtesy Sammlung Ulla und Heiner Pietzsch, Berlin © 2025, ProLitteris, Zurich Photo Credit: Jochen Littkemann, Berlin

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Sep 20 - Mar 8
09:00 - 17:00

This autumn, the Kunstmuseum Basel dedicates an extensive special exhibition to these unfathomable entities. With over 160 works and objects created during the past 250 years, Ghosts. Visualizing the Supernatural explores the rich visual culture associated with ghosts that, in the Western hemisphere, emerged from a particular alliance between the fields of science, psychology and the supernatural in the nineteenth century, providing inspiration for art and artists that continues to this day. The exhibition will feature work by artists including William Blake, Eugene Delacroix, Odilon Redon Grien, John Everett Millais, Madge Gill, Georgiana Houghton, Max Ernst, René Magritte, Rosemarie Trockel, Mike Kelley, Gillian Wearing, Claudia Cassarino, Glenn Ligon, Heidi Bucher, Tony Oursler, Ryan Gander, Cornelia Parker and Rachel Whiteread among many more.

: sans titre, Marie Bouttier, 1899. Courtesy Collection de l’Art Brut, Lausanne © Amélie Blanc, Atelier de numérisation – Ville de Lausanne

: Yikes (Substitutes), Erwin Wurm, 2024. Courtesy of the Artist and König Galerie © 2025, ProLitteris, Zurich Photo Credit: Markus Gradwohl

: Me as a Ghost, Gillian Wearing, 2015. Courtesy Royal Academy of Arts, London © The Artist. Photo: © Royal Academy of Arts, London. Photographer: Prudence Cuming Associates Limited.

: Desvestidos Claudia Casarino, 2005. Courtesy the artist, © Claudia Casarino

: L’Esprit comique [Der komische Geist], René Magritte, 1928. Courtesy Sammlung Ulla und Heiner Pietzsch, Berlin © 2025, ProLitteris, Zurich Photo Credit: Jochen Littkemann, Berlin