Art at Bayer

How Bayer brings Art into the Workday

Slides, meetings, numbers – and suddenly the eyes want to wander elsewhere. Bayer employees discuss modern art from the corporate collection on a quarterly basis – casual, inspiring, right in the workday.

Bayer has one of the most traditional corporate art collections in Germany – developed over more than 100 years, starting with Carl Duisberg's initiative "Art in the Workplace" in 1912. After its rejuvenation in 2025, the collection comprises around 3,000 paintings, sculptures, prints, and media art from the 20th and 21st centuries, which shape offices, corridors, and conference rooms at various locations. At the Leverkusen and Berlin locations, employees can borrow selected artworks from the collection.

With a series of art talks, Bayer Arts and Culture further develops the idea of art in the workplace – and gets employees talking through art.

"Art in the workplace is not a luxury. It is an invitation: to pause, to look, and to think differently. Once you have experienced it, you will never want to be without it."
Andrea Peters
Bayer Arts and Culture

The Principle

Art unfolds its impact where people work daily. In conversations, during lunch breaks, at eye level. With this art talk format, employees become mediators for works from their own art collection in compact workshops. In regular coffee chats, they share their perspectives and interpretations with the workforce.

The format combines three goals that rarely come together:

increasing the visibility of contemporary art
strengthening cultural exchange within the company
making the workplace a place of encounter – beyond meetings and project deadlines.

For Bayer, promoting art is part of its identity. Science and art share a common attitude: curiosity, the willingness to see the familiar in a new way, and the courage to ask unusual questions. Bayer Culture understands this series as a sustainable offering – anchored in the corporate culture, supported by the people who are part of it every day.