A NEW VISION FOR ART

Swiss gallery Hauser & Wirth has experienced immense success over the past three decades- not only through its geographical expansion from Zurich to the world but also thanks to its forward-thinking approach to the art business

- Zabrina Lo

When Iwan and Manuela Wirth founded Hauser & Wirth with Ursula Hauser in Zurich in 1992, the contemporary art world was a different universe. Galleries were largely confined to a single city or region, and their remit was narrower: exhibition, representation and sales. More than three decades later, Hauser & Wirth has transformed from a modest Swiss gallery into a global cultural enterprise, with 20 locations across Europe, Asia and the US. Its distinctive model fuses art with food, hospitality, publishing and education, creating places where communities gather, learn and live with art.

This international expansion has been shaped both by vision and necessity. As the gallery's senior director and partner Fiona Römer explains to Tatler, the gallery always considered itself “artist-minded”, building longterm legacies rather than chasing fashion or quick transactions. “When I start working with an artist, my first question is often: ‘What is your biggest dream?’” she says. “From there, I craft strategies to make it possible; sometimes these take decades. It's my role to create the right context for artists to flourish and challenge them when needed.”