[1] In 1949, under the direction of Lucas Lichtenhahn, the so-called "Impressionist Exhibition," which encompassed a total of 244 works, also featured Claude Monet's "Water Lilies" for the first time in their history outside of France.

[2] With the exhibition "Die neue amerikanische Malerei" (in English: "The New American Painting") in 1958, which was organized in collaboration with the Museum of Modern Art in New York City, the Kunsthalle Basel became the first place in the whole of Europe, and outside the United States, where the works of American expressionist artists, including those by Mark Rothko and Jackson Pollock, were displayed in a museum setting.

[5][6] Using revenue from two of the ferry services across the Rhine, Kunsthalle Basel was built between 1869 and 1872 based on a design by Johann Jakob Stehlin-Burckhardt [de].

The library, whose inventory goes back to the founding year of the Kunstverein and today has a focus on contemporary art publications, in 1992 was installed permanently in the rooms of the former caretaker's apartment.

In 2004, the Steinberg building underwent further, major renovations executed by the architects Miller & Maranta [de] with the intent of both restoring its former glory and simultaneously updating it in an attempt to prolong its relevance in the art and architecture world.