With the presentation of the Hersaint Collection, the Fondation Beyeler is celebrating a world premiere. For the first time, the surrealist masterpieces of this important collection are on public display in a major survey exhibition. The collection was founded by the banker Claude Hersaint. Even as a teenager, he was enthusiastic about the revolutionary art of surrealism. His early interest enabled him to acquire major works by the first generation of surrealists, including Salvador Dalí, René Magritte, Joan Miró, Pablo Picasso, Yves Tanguy, Man Ray, Victor Brauner, Toyen and Dorothea Tanning, as well as Jean Dubuffet, Jean Fautrier and Wols. He also amassed what is probably the most impressive private Max Ernst collection in the world. Claude Hersaint was friends with many of these artists throughout his life and supported them significantly. Claude and his wife Françoise Hersaint also shared a mutual admiration for Ernst Beyeler. In dialog with the Beyeler Collection, the exhibition and catalog now present around 50 key works from the Hersaint Collection.Claude Hersaint (1904 São Paulo–1993 Crans-Montana) grew up in Brazil before moving to Paris with his family. At the age of just 17, he acquired his first painting by Max Ernst. It was the foundation for a lifelong passion for Surrealism, whose legacy is preserved in his collection through key works. Hersaint's commitment to art, like that of his wife Françoise (1934 Paris–2023 Crans-Montana), is continued today by their daughter Evangéline Hersaint and her wife Laetitia.