Move over Vito Schnabel, there’s a new gallery coming to St. Moritz. Swiss art dealers Hauser & Wirth are set to open their ninth gallery this December.
Hauser & Wirth will kick it off with an exhibition of works by renowned late French-American artist Louise Bourgeois. The gallery will occupy the Palace Galerie space in the center of St. Moritz. The 4,400 sq foot exhibition space spans three floors of a building owned by Badrutt’s Palace Hotel. Architect Luis Laplace, who is responsible for Hauser & Wirth’s Somerset outpost, will oversee interior remodeling of the site.
Sure, St. Moritz has long been associated with avid ski enthusiasts, but with an ever-growing number of collectors and an abundance of not-to-miss art museums and galleries, it made perfect sense for the gallery to open another Swiss location. Fun fact: the surrounding area was also home to the Giacometti family and Alpine painter Giovanni Segantini.
‘Our new gallery in St. Moritz represents a return to my earliest steps into the art world and speaks to our DNA as a Swiss gallery.’ comments Iwan Wirth, President and co-Founder of Hauser & Wirth. ‘I organised my first show in St. Moritz in 1987 at age 17, an exhibition that included works by Daniel Spoerri, Le Corbusier, and Marc Chagall, and took place in the Hotel Carlton. Three decades later, we are delighted and honoured to open Hauser & Wirth St. Moritz. The rich cultural history of the Engadin Valley is distinctive, coloured by many of the artistic figures that inspire our work today. We are continuing to build on the legacy of the original St. Mortiz trailblazer Bruno Bischofberger, and of such titans as Alberto Giacometti and Joseph Beuys. And we look forward to collaborating with Badrutt’s Palace on exciting artistic ventures and to introducing a new audience to the work of our artists and estates.’
Freshen up your resume too. Hauser & Wirth will be appointing a Director in the coming months to manage the St. Moritz gallery.
images// courtesy of Hauser & Wirth
