In 2023, Swatch continued to spread its playful vision of art with, among other things, the most famous paintings of the Renaissance master Sandro Botticelli on the wrist and two watches that pay tribute to the Belgian surrealist leader René Magritte, of which we celebrated the 125th anniversary. Launched at the end of March, the Swatch Art Journey 2024 pictorial collection took place in four British museums from the famous Tate Gallery, which has been mixing ancient and modern art since 1932. Its origins date back to when Sir Henry Tate, the sugar magnate and an art lover, he donated his personal collection to the British nation. In 1897, the Tate (then the National Gallery of British Art) opened its doors to the public… in a former prison converted to house 245 works by British artists, from the Renaissance to the Industrial Revolution.
The Tate’s current holdings include over 70,000 works of modern art and the best of British art to date. Every year, it welcomes millions of visitors to museums located in no less surprising places. In London, Tate Modern’s vast collection of contemporary art occupies five floors of a disused power station in Southwark. Also on the banks of the Thames, the elegant classical building of Tate Britain allows you to admire the paintings of the most famous Anglo-Saxon painters: Thomas Gainsborough, Francis Bacon, Henry Moore, David Hockney and William Turner. Tate St Ives in Cornwall and Tate Liverpool, set amongst the port city’s docks, complete this artistic journey across the country.
Because they share the same democratic values (access to the permanent collections is free), the Tate is an ideal partner for Swatch. Their shared desire to make art accessible to an ever wider audience is realized in the new Swatch Art Journey x Tate watch series. Dials and bracelets miniaturize iconic paintings by Henri Matisse, Marc Chagall, Juan Miró, Wilhelmina Barns-Graham and Louise Bourgeois. The Swiss brand thus continues its mission to leave more space for art in everyday life, even if it is 41mm and 34mm…
William Turner, the most famous British romantic artist of the 20th century, is often described as the “father of modern art” and a painter of light. The abstraction of moving landscapes is reflected on the dial: the calendar wheel changes the color of the sun every 14 days. Turner’s Scarlet Sunset: 34mm transparent biomaterial case, luminous hands, €100.
