In his home in Switzerland, died one of the most respected dealers in the world of impressionists and modernists, the founder of the Fondation Beyeler Museum and Art Basel fair

last week died one of the major dealers in the world of art modernism, Swiss Ernst Beyeler (Ernst Beyeler). He was 88 years old. He died at his home in the town of Riehen near Basel. As reported at the site of his museum "spouses Beyeler Foundation» (Fondation Beyeler), died of natural causes.

During his long career Beyeler was able to acquire a reliable customer base consisting of major collectors, as well as considerable financial resources, which enabled him to become one of the most influential market participants impressionism and modernism. He stood for many outstanding deals with works of painting: in 1973, for example, the dealer bought an abstract landscape by Willem de Kooning (Willem de Kooning) for 180 thousand dollars, that price was a record for the artist's work. In 2006, the American billionaire David Geffen (David Geffen) sold this picture (along with cloth Jasper Johns (Jasper Johns) «false start") for 143.5 million dollars. Amount of 14,7 million dollars, paid Beyeler in 1989 for his cubist Fernand Leger painting (Fernand Léger) «Contrasting forms, also got the record.

One of the most stunning gains dealer was painting Wassily Kandinsky" Fugue », for which he laid out $ 19 million (in 1990 at auction Sotheby's). According ARTinvestment.RU, now is the product, which is the pearl of the Foundation Beyeler collection, can bring 70 million at auction, and even more.

Beyeler was born in 1921 in Basel. In his youth dreamed of being an economist. He wanted to leave Switzerland, but the war interrupted his plans, and he found work at a small shop of old books and prints, owned by German Buddhist Oscar Schloss (Oskar Schloss). So Beyeler interest in art. After the death of Schloss in 1945, he took matters into their own hands and turned the store in the gallery. Two years later he organized the first exhibition there, which exhibited Japanese prints.

Beyeler In 1948 he married Hilda Kuntz (Hildy Kunz), which became his main collaborator. Together they bought the first masterpiece - "Improvisation 10" Kandinsky. To buy a picture, which was then worth 4 500 dollars, they had to borrow money and agree on the installment plan. For over 60 years Beyeler managed to sell in his gallery of about 16 thousand paintings, drawings and sculptures, but "Improvisation 10" are not included in their number - the dealer and his wife decided to leave the work itself. Later it turned out that the tragic pictures of Provenance: before the war it was confiscated by the owner by the Nazis. In 1989, the son of wanted to sue the collector jobs from Beyeler, but the gallery owner has to agree with him. According to experts, the current cost of fabric is about $ 25 million.

spouses were able to organize in his gallery more than 250 exhibitions, many of which were submitted to the work of the museum class. These exhibitions, equipped with luxurious directories have Beyeler name as among collectors, as well as among artists, and his negotiating skills helped him become an indispensable intermediary in transactions between museums, authors and collectors. In 1989 he, together with other Swiss dealer Thomas Amman (Thomas Ammann), acted as an intermediary in the sale of Van Gogh's "Portrait of Joseph Rulena" New York Museum of Modern Art. The work was acquired for 50 million.

Thanks Beyeler Museum was able to get into their first-class collection of Cubist sculpture of Picasso's "Guitar". In 1971, the dealer suggested that the Director of painting and sculpture, William Rubin (William Rubin) to choose any work that could be exchanged for a desired object. They went on a visit to the artist, with whom Beyeler been friends since 1950, taking a small landscape by Cezanne. But the conversation went so well that Picasso had refused to take a picture and gave his creation a gift.

Generally, the main secret of the phenomenal success of the Beyeler was that he was not afraid to put on the modernists in an age when their works are still considered "undervalued". Between 1959 and 1965, the years he bought a steel magnate David Thompson (David Thompson) 100 works by Paul Klee (Paul Klee), 90 pieces by Alberto Giacometti (Alberto Giacometti) and numerous works of Cezanne, Monet, Matisse, Braque (Georges Braque), Joan Miro (Joan Miró) and others. In 1972 he bought from the widow of Kandinsky's about 100 of his works.

course, a lot of "dividends" brought friendship with Picasso, who valued the work of Beyeler and allowed him to select any work for exhibitions and sales. Once, in 1966, the artist gave him 26 works, one of which, now called "Salvation", a gallery owner decided to leave him. Now canvas is in the Fondation Beyeler. Later, he bought a whole collection of drawings by Picasso, which enabled him to mark the 90 anniversary of the masters of the exposition "90 works on paper».

Beyeler established his foundation in 1982. Fifteen years later, in Riehen opened museum, which became famous architect Renzo Piano (Renzo Piano). Now there can be seen more than 200 works from the collection of the spouses, not only impressionism and modernism, but the traditional art of Africa and Oceania.

In 1971, Ernst Beyeler has become one of the founders of Art Basel fair , which is now the world's largest fair of contemporary art.

dealer's wife Hilda died in 2008 . A few years before her death, the couple created a charitable fund which provides funds for the preservation of tropical forests.

article prepared by Julia Maksimova, AI

Source: telegraph.co . uk , nytimes.com , artinvestment.ru