Museum of Fine Arts Bern — Attraction in Bern

Extremely disappointed at this museum. My family are visiting from Canada and Hong Kong. We came to see works by old masters as I read on travel books that they have a collection of Renaissance and 16-17 century art. We came only to find a very small collection on the ground floor, 2 Monet, 1 Van Gogh and nothing else interesting in a total of 4 small rooms. Then we proceeded to the basement where we mainly found some very modern paintings which we are not a fan of. The place mainly has modern art displayed in a handful of rooms and none of the old masters as advertised on travel books and google. I was told by an employee that many people come disappointed and can ask for refund but when I got to the front desk the girl refused to provide refund even though we only were in the building for a few minutes. When asked if I can talk to her superiors, she told us no. This is just simply unimaginable in our countries. I believe they do not take us seriously because we are tourists and non-white. As non-white and of Chinese descent we have heard that Switzerland can be discriminating towards Chinese and Asian people in general (for example, I heard they created a segregated train for Chinese tourists so that the locals do not have to put up with us) so I am not sure if it played a role in our treatment but this definitely crossed our mind. I suggest that people avoid this place unless you’re only into the...

If you are interested in the classics, I would skip this until they change up the exhibits again... We should have read reviews before going but currently they have a VERY large potion of the museum dedicated to an architecture contest to re-do the museum as well as a large portion dedicated to a modern artist that quite honestly was not impressive (I will leave my true thoughts on this art out of my review). We finished the museum and went back to ask the woman at the desk if we were missing something, as we were told they had more classics/masters but we did not see very much (maybe 10 or so). We were told that they have more in their collection but they are not on display. I am sorry but how silly to have them and not share them with the public- we felt like we wasted money and left very disappointed. We went to the art museums in Lucerne and Zurich and both were far better, so we had high hopes for this one that absolutely did not pan out. I hope in the future they can put more of the masters artwork on display as that's what most people want to see. After further reading others reviews- don't count on seeing the paintings that are posted in their reviews. Most of these were not on display as...

A wonderful museum. Full price is only CHF 10. The lighting and presentation are impeccable. The staff are lovely. I was alone in most rooms, and never encountered more than one or two other guests. I loved being able to stick my nose right up next to the paintings, or admire them from across the room, or at any angle, without worrying about lines of sight. It let me really bask in the art instead of fighting for a peek. My highlights were Vallotton and Hodler. The collection includes stunning pieces from lesser-known Swiss and regional artists. Lovis Corinth and Raphael Ritz both show so much better in-person than they do digitally. The Wolfli room is fascinating and very well done. I was especially moved by a single painting from Anna Elisabeth von Erlach which I don't see online at all. I'm posting a picture here in hopes that others will go see it. Please go visit this museum. It's a special and accessible place for experiencing the joy...