Ivan Wirth

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Iwan Wirth (born in May 1970 in Switzerland ) is President and co-founder of Hauser & Wirth , a gallery for contemporary art and modern masters. Hauser & Wirth was described in the Financial Times as "the marketplace of ideas".

Iwan Wirth is one of the most influential players in the contemporary art business.

Life

He grew up in Oberuzwil after his family moved there from Bern. According to his own statements, he began selling works of art when he was seven years old. In 1986, as a schoolboy, he opened his first gallery in Oberuzwil, where he exhibited works by the Basel artist Bruno Gasser. Wirth met the art collector Ursula Hauser-Fust, who came from the neighboring village of Uzwil, and her daughter Manuela Würth became his wife. Hauser, who at that time sold her shares in the electrical household appliance chain Dipl. Ing. Fust , founded the Hauser & Wirth gallery in Zurich together with her daughter and Iwan Wirth in 1992, which is now a global company.

Wirth owns agricultural land in Somerset consisting of forest and pasture land. The farm has landrace pigs and Lleyn sheep and cattle of various land races - mainly Hereford and Aberdeen Angus and a small number of pure-bred Ruby Red Devons and Welsh Blacks. The farm also keeps game and pheasants and one of the largest herds of angora goats in the UK. Hauser & Wirth Somerset's Roth Bar & Grill restaurant is supplied directly from the farm and serves local, seasonal dishes. The associated bar was designed by Björn and Oddur Roth. The restaurant was on the Times’s list of “25 Best Places for Brunch” in 2014 . The Wirths also own the Durslade Farmhouse, a guest house on the grounds of Hauser & Wirth Somerset, which is one of the original listed farm buildings from around 1760.

Awards and honors

In 2014 Wirth was appointed trustee of the Royal Academy of Arts , London. He is a member of a number of bodies such as the Maria Lassnig Foundation, the Swiss Cultural Fund, the Frieze Masters Selection Committee, the Council of the Serpentine Gallery and Tate's South Asian Acquisitions Committee . Iwan Wirth was awarded the Swiss Institute / Contemporary Art Benefit in 2007 , and in 2015 Iwan and Manuela Wirth each received honorary doctorates in literature from Bath Spa University.

In 2015 ArtReview jointly named Iwan and Manuela Wirth in the 'Power 100' list as number 1 of the most influential figures in the art world. In 2016, the couple ranked third, 2017 seventh and 2018 sixth. Before that, Iwan Wirth took third place in 2013 and 2014. The New York Times described Wirth as "one of the most influential actors in contemporary art".

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Alice Rawsthorn: The Dealer . In: New York Times . Retrieved June 25, 2015.
  2. ↑ [1]
  3. ↑ NZZ am Sonntag: I loved women farts for their potential , August 4, 2002, accessed on January 12, 2015
  4. ↑ Stefan Banz: “Actually, I always work at the limit of what is possible” , in conversation with Iwan Wirth
  5. ↑ Tagesspiegel.de: Brief messages , January 3, 2004, accessed on January 13, 2015
  6. ↑ St. Galler Tagblatt: The collector Ursula Hauser returns , March 6, 2012, accessed on January 12, 2015
  7. ^ The Times: The 25 best places for brunch . Retrieved June 24, 2015.
  8. ↑ This year's most influential people in the contemporary artworld ( English ) ArtReview. Retrieved May 16, 2019.
personal data
SURNAME Wirth, Ivan
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Swiss gallery owner
DATE OF BIRTH May 1970
PLACE OF BIRTH Switzerland