Ghosts: Visualizing the Supernatural at the Kunstmuseum Basel

From 20 September 2025 to 1 February 2026, the Kunstmuseum Basel presents the exhibition “Ghosts: Visualizing the Supernatural”

Source: National Gallery, London · Image: François Gérard, “Ossian on the banks of the Lora summons the spirits to the sound of the harp,” 1811

Ghosts are everywhere: in fiction, popular culture, and historic scientific inquiry. Whether friendly or threatening, spooky or harmless, they are an expression of a society’s desire to grapple with the unknown and the ungraspable. For the more than eighty artists from the 19th century to the present day featured in the exhibition, the desire to explore the supernatural and the longing to render these elusive entities visible has been a keen source of inspiration.

Ghosts haunt all media: in classical painting or sculpture, in photography, or as specters within digital space. Artists have acted as mediums for spirits or, possessed by them, created works according to their instructions. Famous ghosts from literature have been given uncanny form and Surrealist visions have been made visible. This comprehensive exhibition mines both the history of art and the paranormal, creating an exploration of the poetic potential and disquieting power of ghostly apparitions.