Roswitha Haftmann

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Roswitha Haftmann (née Hoffmann, married Viollet, born January 11, 1924 in St. Gallen ; † January 29, 1998 in Zurich ) was a Swiss gallery owner and benefactor .

biography

Roswitha Hoffmann spent childhood and school in St. Gallen. Her parents were the pediatrician Walther Hoffmann and the nanny Gertrud Bopp. She had two brothers (Thilo, Ekkehard) and a sister (Lukretia). After graduating from high school, she first studied sport at the ETH Zurich (subject teacher diploma 1944), then at the universities of Zurich and Lausanne German, French and English (subject teacher diploma 1948). From 1949 to 1955 she stayed in the USA and worked as a model under the name Claudette Viollet. In 1950 she married Claude Viollet, a professor of French at the West Point Military Academy .

In 1956 Roswitha Viollet returned to Zurich and worked as a teacher until 1959. In 1960 she got divorced. During this time, through her brother Thilo, she met Arnold Rüdlinger , who was then director of the Kunsthalle Basel , and was enthusiastic about the Basel art scene. Lifelong friendships developed, including with the art collector Werner Alder, the painter Georges Mathieu and Werner Haftmann . Mathieu suggested that she come to Paris. There she became director of the Galerie Internationale d'Art Contemporain in 1960 . In 1963, the Geneva gallery owner Jan Krugier recruited the now successful and well-connected art dealer for his gallery. She traveled as director to private collectors and museums in Germany and the USA and perfected her knowledge of the mechanisms of the art world .

After her marriage to Werner Haftmann in 1967, Roswitha Haftmann followed her husband to Berlin, where he became director of the Nationalgalerie that same year . As a host, she became friends with Joannis Avramidis , Alexander Calder , Marc Chagall , David Hockney , Max Ernst , Marino Marini , among many others . She divorced in 1970 and in 1971 accepted an offer from the London gallery Marlborough to manage their large, newly opened branch in Zurich. The additional contacts she gained with artists, collectors and journalists prompted Roswitha Haftmann to open her own gallery Modern Art in Zurich in November 1973 , a gallery in a living apartment. In the following 25 years she held 70 exhibitions. Roswitha Haftmann died of suicide on January 29, 1998. The day before, she had signed the certificate establishing a Roswitha Haftmann Foundation . Since then, their main task has been to award the Roswitha Haftmann Prize , the most highly endowed European prize for visual artists.

Exhibitions by the Roswitha Haftmann Modern Art gallery

Solo exhibitions (selection)
Group exhibitions (selection)
  • 1973 opening
  • 1976 Accrochage
  • 1979 new acquisitions
  • 1981 Accrochage
  • 1987 Open House
  • 1991 Selected works
  • 1994 Selected Works
  • 1996 artist of the gallery
  • 1996 Selected Works

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Entry of the "Roswitha Haftmann Foundation" in the commercial register of the Canton of Zurich  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.@1@ 2Template: Toter Link / zh.powernet.ch  
  2. ↑ a b Ludmila Vachtova. Roswitha Haftmann. Life and legacy . Pp. 93-108.
personal data
SURNAME Haftmann, Roswitha
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Hoffmann, Roswitha; Viollet, Claudette; Viollet, Roswitha; Viollet-Hoffmann, Roswitha
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Swiss gallery owner
DATE OF BIRTH January 11, 1924
PLACE OF BIRTH St. Gallen
DATE OF DEATH January 29, 1998
Place of death Zurich