From its beginnings, the activities of the Kunstverein Winterthur were focused on contemporary art – first Impressionism, then Post-Impressionism and especially Les Nabis, through post-World War II and recently created works by Richard Hamilton, Mario Merz and Gerhard Richter.

The Kunstmuseum Winterthur is made up of three buildings: the Beim Stadthaus, the Reinhart am Stadtgarten and Villa Flora.

[2][3] The building "Beim Stadthaus" also contains Winterthur's natural history museum.

The cubism section contains works by Pablo Picasso, Mondrian, and Gris, as well as one of the most important European collections of Fernand Léger.

[4] More modern works include pieces by Mark Tobey, Ellsworth Kelly, Brice Marden, Andro Wekua and Pia Fries.