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Iwan Wirth

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Iwan Wirth (b. May 1970, Switzerland) is the President and co-founder of Hauser & Wirth, an international gallery of contemporary art and modern masters. Hauser & Wirth has been cited by The Financial Times as ‘the marketplace of ideas’[1]. A survey of artists’ opinions for Flash Art magazine's ‘100 Top International Galleries’, voted the gallery number one in Europe and second in the world[2].

Iwan Wirth was listed as the third most powerful and influential person in the art world in ArtReview’s ‘Power 100’ in 2013[3] and 2014[4]. The New York Times described Wirth as ‘one of the most powerful players in contemporary art’[5].

Together with Manuela Wirth and Ursula Hauser (his wife and mother-in-law respectively), Iwan Wirth founded Hauser & Wirth in Switzerland in 1992. It is now a global enterprise, with spaces in Zurich, London, New York and Somerset, and is due to open in Los Angeles in 2016. The gallery represents almost 60 established and emerging artists, including Mark Bradford, Christoph Büchel, Roni Horn, Paul McCarthy and Pipilotti Rist, and is responsible for artist estates and foundations including the Louise Bourgeois Studio, the Eva Hesse Estate, Allan Kaprow Estate, Mike Kelley (artist) Foundation for the Arts, the Estate of Jason Rhoades and the Dieter Roth Estate.

Hauser & Wirth is also a publisher specialising in books on modern and contemporary art and has published over 100 titles since 1992. Hauser & Wirth's publishing activity consists of monographs, artists' books, historic exhibition catalogues, collections of artists' writings and catalogues raisonnés. ‘Hauser & Wirth 20 Years’, a publication documenting the gallery’s history, received an award for ‘Most Outstandingly Produced Book’[6] at the Spear’s Book Awards 2013.

Iwan Wirth owns working farmland in Somerset, comprised of woodland and permanent pastures. Native breed pigs and Lleyn sheep are reared across the farm alongside a variety of native breed cattle – predominantly Hereford and Aberdeen Angus, with a small number of pedigree Ruby Red Devons and Welsh Blacks. The farm also nurtures wild deer and pheasant, and boasts one of the largest flocks of Angora goats in the UK. The Wirths’ farm directly supplies the Roth Bar & Grill, their restaurant located at Hauser & Wirth Somerset. The Roth Bar & Grill includes a site-specific bar created by Björn and Oddur Roth, and serves local, seasonal food. The restaurant was included in The Times’ ‘25 Best Places for Brunch’[7] in 2014. The Wirths also own and manage Durslade Farmhouse, a guesthouse onsite at Hauser & Wirth Somerset that forms part of the original Grade II-listed farm buildings dating back to ca. 1760.

In 2014, Iwan Wirth was appointed as a Trustee of the Royal Academy of Arts, London. He is a member of a number of committees including the Maria Lassnig Foundation, the Swiss Cultural Fund, the Frieze Masters selection committee, the Council of the Serpentine Gallery and the South Asian Acquisitions Committee at Tate. Iwan Wirth was the 2007 Honoree at the Swiss Institute / Contemporary Art Benefit, and in 2015, Iwan and Manuela Wirth were both awarded a Doctor of Letters (Hons) from Bath Spa University.

Iwan Wirth opened his first gallery aged 16 near St Gallen, Switzerland, before Hauser & Wirth was founded in 1992. Click here for information on the history of Hauser & Wirth.

Philanthropic Work

Iwan Wirth, along with wife and Co-President Manuela Wirth, is a major benefactor of museums and international art projects, and contributes to a range of charities supporting the arts, architecture, the environment, conservation, community and education.

Iwan and Manuela Wirth have been funding a teaching and research post at The Courtauld Institute of Art, London in the field of Asian modern and contemporary art, since 2013. They are ongoing supporters of the Reykjavik Arts Festival. The Wirths support the Bruton Museum situated on Bruton High Street, as well as The Holburne Museum in Bath where they made a contribution towards the museum’s contemporary programme with a gallery space named the Wirth Gallery.

Iwan and Manuela Wirth have partially funded the ongoing restoration of St. Margaret’s Church in Braemar, and contribute towards the River Dee Trust and the North Atlantic Salmon Fund (NASF). They donated a 2-acre plot of land to the local council in Somerset as part of a community garden project, the Durslade Walled Garden. They are both supporters of the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), the Somerset Wildlife Trust, Human Rights Watch and NSPCC, and have an ongoing commitment to Christoph Schlingensief’s Operndorf project in Burkina Faso, through an annual donation allocated to education programmes, food and the building and running of a school.

References

  1. ^ Financial Times, The. "All roads lead to the marketplace for ideas". Retrieved 24 June 2015.
  2. ^ Art, Flash. "Top 100 Galleries selected by artists". Retrieved 25 June 2015.
  3. ^ Review, Art. "Power 100". Retrieved 25 June 2015.
  4. ^ Review, Art. "Power 100". Retrieved 25 June 2015.
  5. ^ New York Times, The. "The Dealer". Retrieved 25 June 2015.
  6. ^ Awards, Spear's. "Spear's Book Awards 2013".
  7. ^ Times, The. "The 25 best places for brunch". Retrieved 24 June 2015.

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