This is a first for Swatch after having created watches for years in partnership with the greatest museums in the world: this time it is with a British gallery that the Swiss brand is joining forces, for its Swatch Art Journey 2024.
“Together, we have designed watches that will bring the Tate Gallery’s rich and diverse collection to an ever-widening audience
,” explains Hamish Anderson, CEO of Tate Enterprises.
A Swatch x Tate Gallery collection.
Swatch
You have to have seen the different models in the Swatch x Tate Gallery collection to realize the complexity that can be involved in transposing such works to the (tiny) scale of a watch dial.
There we come across a sunset by Turner, one of the greatest British painters, often described as the “father of modern art”.
This watch is inspired by an iconic scene, bringing out light and color throughout the room.
On its dial, the creative use of the calendar wheel adds further depth, with the sun changing color every 14 days.
Then the cycle starts again.
A Swatch x Tate Gallery collection.
Judikael Hirel
Marc Chagall's Blue Circus recreates the colorful chaos of the circus on the wrist, in vibrant blue tones on the bracelet and dial.
A moon and an eye balanced at the ends of the hands bring to life the dynamism of the acrobats.
For Joan Miró, the Spanish painter, sculptor and ceramist from Barcelona.
His distinctive style was influenced by surrealism and other artistic movements of the time.
This watch highlights the abstract and brings out the colors.
The indexes printed on the glass stand out from the artwork to give depth and dimension to the composition.
A Swatch x Tate Gallery collection.
Judikael Hirel
Fernand Léger belonged to the Parisian avant-garde movement of the early 20th century, where his name was associated with Cubism.
Later, he was inspired by modern life, machines and technology.
He developed a simple, but innovative style, based on the separation between color and line: just like on this watch, the color is distributed on different parts of the canvas, while being separated from the drawing itself.
A Swatch x Tate Gallery collection.
Judikael Hirel
Henri Matisse, for his part, contributed to revolutionizing art at the beginning of the 20th century, particularly painting.
He created Fauvism, a disruptive and influential style that combined bright colors with free brushstrokes.
The artist enjoyed a career spanning more than 50 years.
But his late works, including creative paper cutouts like the one on display in London, are particularly popular.
Here, Swatch uses the famous image of the snail on the dial, but also on the transparent bracelet.
British artist Wilhelmina Barns-Graham's paintings are bursting with color and vibrant, fluid brushstrokes.
His abstract works gradually gained boldness and simplicity, reflecting his love of life.
Printed black indexes appear on the dial to underline the power of this work.
A Swatch x Tate Gallery collection.
Judikael Hirel
Finally, the Franco-American artist Louise Bourgeois is best known for her large-scale sculptures and installations.
But she was also a talented painter and printmaker who frequently used spirals in her works.
For her, their outward movement symbolized "letting go, confidence and positive energy...".
The Swatch x Tate Gallery collection will be available in Swatch boutiques worldwide and on swatch.com from March 21, as well as in Tate Gallery boutiques and on shop.tate.org.uk.