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°° C’est une collection de brefs épisodes pour découvrir l’art contemporain avec curiosité et légèreté.
°° C’est un rendez-vous avec une œuvre d’art contemporain suisse, regardée, expertisée et questionnée par des jeunes, auxquels répondent à leur façon les artistes qui ont réalisé les œuvres.
°° C’est des invitations à des rencontres, parfois inattendues, entre des œuvres exposées en Suisse… et vous!
ART'S COOL presents “Happy Views”, a journey into the heart of a private art collection. Join us today as we explore the Nestlé Collection! This art collection is one of the region’s key heritage assets, featuring works by renowned artists from the 16th to the 21st century.
Today Clélie and Lei begin their journey of discovery with an abstract artwork by Swiss artist Alain Huck, paying close attention to the sides of the canvas that bear mysterious traces.
CLÉLIE: Hello! I'm Clélie, and I work in the Public Affairs department at Nestlé.
LEI: Hi, everyone. I'm Lei. I'm from China and work in Business Development for Nestlé China.
CLÉLIE: We’re currently standing in the main hall of Nestlé’s headquarters in Vevey. We have an appointment with René Ciocca, Head of Corporate Identity and Design at Nestlé.
LEI: That’s right. Today, he’ll guide us through the building as we discover two artworks from the Nestlé Art Collection.
RENÉ CIOCCA: Hello, I’m René Ciocca, Head of Corporate Identity and Design, and of the Art Collection as well. I’m delighted to show you some highlights from our collection. First, let me ask: are you interested in art? What role does it play in your daily life at Nestlé?
LEI: I’ve been really impressed by the art throughout the building. For those who haven’t visited Nestlé’s headquarters before, it’s a massive place, and I think without the art, it would feel like something essential was missing. The collection adds life and vibrancy to the day.
CLÉLIE: I try to go to exhibitions from time to time. For example, I recently went to see the Matisse exhibition in Bern. But I’m no expert. I just enjoy visiting and learning, especially when we have opportunities here at Nestlé.
RENÉ CIOCCA: As you've probably noticed, we have a lot of artworks displayed throughout the building. There are also sculptures outside in the gardens and even in some public spaces. Can you guess how many pieces we have in the Nestlé Art Collection?
LEI: Just from what I’ve seen in the building, maybe 200? But I heard there’s a whole basement of artworks too: so maybe 2,000?
CLÉLIE: I’d guess around 1,000. I know the collection started a long time ago, but that’s just my rough estimate.
RENÉ CIOCCA: Not bad! The collection currently has around 350 pieces. So it’s not huge, but it's significant. Some of the artworks are exhibited here in the building, and others are shared with the Musée Jenisch, where they’re shown in public exhibitions.
We also have a storage space for works that aren't currently on display. As we’re here in the main hall, I suggest we begin our visit. Today, we’ll see two pieces: one is in storage, and the other is on the fifth floor. So please, follow me. We’re now heading to the fifth floor.
Here we are in what we call the B Building. From here, you have a fantastic view of the Jean Tschumi building. It’s quite something. Behind us, you can also see an architectural structure built in February by Richter & Dahl Rocha. Their idea was to frame the Tschumi building itself as a piece of art.
There’s a large window here that opens onto the landscape, the inner courtyard, and the building with the Swiss flag. But now, let’s head in the opposite direction to visit the forum where today’s featured painting is displayed.
We’re now standing in front of this artwork by Alain Huck. What do you think of it? What does it inspire in you?
LEI: Honestly, I had barely noticed it before! I pass through this area almost every week. I don’t know why, but I’ve overlooked it until now. But seeing it again, I realize this artwork actually fits the space perfectly. It really harmonizes with the corridor.
CLÉLIE: Yes, it’s super interesting. There are two bands: one red, one a sort of orangey brown. I like the glossy finish—it reflects the light from the windows beautifully. And I also appreciate the fact that it’s not framed. When you approach it, you can see these little marks on the side, I’m not sure how to say it in English, but traces of the painting process.
It’s a piece you can appreciate from the front and from the side. I know this area well, and I’ve seen other artworks here that are much more figurative. So I imagine, René, you had a specific intention behind placing this abstract work here. That’s actually my question: why did you choose this specific spot? I know it’s a newly renovated area, so I imagine a lot of thought went into it.
RENÉ CIOCCA: Absolutely. Every time we choose where to place a piece, we think carefully about how it relates to the space. Here, you have wooden paneling with vertical and horizontal structures; and Huck’s painting echoes that with its two-color composition.
Nearby, there’s also a painting by Olivier Mosset made up of two green lines on a grey background. So there’s a visual dialogue between the two. And I really liked your observation: Alain Huck’s painting is not just to be viewed from the front. The side is equally interesting. Maybe you can describe what you see from that angle?
CLÉLIE: From the side, you can see different colors, yellow and blue, that aren’t visible from the front. That surprised me! It makes me wonder: is there a message behind that contrast? Like, maybe the idea is “I’m only showing you what I want to show you; what’s behind isn’t visible unless you make the effort to look.” That’s my interpretation, at least.
RENÉ CIOCCA: That’s a great insight. This series by Alain Huck is built on layers. He painted over previous layers, letting the edges of older colors remain visible on the sides. It creates this dual perspective, you see one thing from the front, something else from the side.
When you walk down the corridor, you first encounter the painting from the side, which reveals something completely different than what you see head-on. That’s the beauty of it—a kind of hidden narrative. On the technical side, Huck used synthetic lacquer—the same kind used in car paint—because it’s very bright and durable.
That’s especially important here, because we have a lot of natural light in the building. We have to make sure the works we display won’t be damaged over time. This type of paint holds up well, even with some sunlight.
LEI: I find the technical side really interesting. Is there anything else you can share?
THE ARTWORK: Hi there. I’m called “Sans titre”. I’m a painting made with synthetic lacquer on canvas. I was painted by the Swiss artist Alain Huck between 1994 and 2000. I measure 65 centimeters by 73 centimeters.
CLÉLIE: That’s fascinating—the timeline. Usually, a painting has a year attached to it. But this one spans nearly six years. Did he work on one layer each year? Why did it take so long?
RENÉ CIOCCA: Great question! I can’t say for sure, but I imagine Huck working in his studio with multiple square canvases, applying one layer, letting it dry, setting it aside for months, and coming back later to add another. It’s a long, iterative process, and he produced quite a few paintings in this series.
THE ART EXPERT: What a fascinating conversation!
The question of superimposed layers of paint is interesting . Although we don’t normally get to see it, this is actually how all painters go about their work. For example, we do know that Gustave Courbet, who spent his final years in the region, in La Tour-de-Peilz, frequently reworked his canvases. Courbet would revisit details, maybe an arm that was too short or perhaps a closed hand that needed to be open. We can unearth such genealogy in an artwork by taking an X-ray of it, in exactly the same way that we get our lungs examined.
Alain Huck also reworks his paintings. Unlike Courbet, however, Huck lets us in on the secrets of his process. There’s no need for any infrared lamps: the drips on the edges of the canvas are enough to show us that the painting has gone through a number of lives. Indeed, this stacking of life’s moments, one on top of another, is what interests the artist. .
Alain Huck doesn’t apply paint to his canvas according to inspiration or a specific project. Instead, his rule is that life’s events: a meeting with a friend, a meal or a phrase lifted from a conversation, are what trigger fresh layers of paint. Alain Huck is no longer captain of the ship, instead leaving the evolution of his paintings down to the randomness of everyday life. In doing so, we could say that Huck strips the act of painting of its sacredness, turning it into a collective gesture that’s also repetitive and ‘’mundane’’.
Alain Huck’s series of canvases is entitled “Peintures”, a generic word that refers to the act of painting in its most impersonal form. We could say that Alain Huck’s Peinture plays with this tension. On the one hand, the painting’s varnish leaves us with the impression of transcending time without ever being disrupted. The artist uses an industrial lacquer that’s smooth and shiny, almost like the bodywork on a car. The painting could have been made by anyone. On the other hand, the drips on the canvas’s edges reveal the behind-the-scenes process, thereby placing the work very much within the painter’s personal life.
ART’S COOL, aka "art is cool"! An informal get-together around contemporary art, where curious minds meet unique artworks. Simple, right?
From time to time, ART’S COOL takes you on a “HAPPY VIEWS” experience. And that was the case today with Clélie and Lei, who conversed about the artwork “Sans titre” by Alain Huck.
These artworks form part of the Nestlé Art Collection.
Commentary on them came from René Ciocca, Head of Corporate Identity & Design at Nestlé, and Julie Enckell Julliard, Head of Cultural Development at HEAD.
With the voices of René Ciocca, Nicolas Julliard, Ellen Ichters, and Andrew Nimmo.
You can see photos of the artworks as well as portraits of the contributors from this episode at www.artscool.ch.
Concept and production by Patrick Comte, Florence Grivel, and Nadja Imhof.
English translation and narration by Andrew Nimmo.
Music and sound design by Christophe Gonet.
This episode has been produced and broadcast thanks to the generous support of Nestlé.
It’s a Young Pods production.