On the death of Ernst Beyeler, the famous Swiss marshal and collector

[LCR]

The newspaper Le Monde, 2.03.10

He allowed Basel occupy a central place in the world of art. Ernst Beyeler, the son of members of the Swiss railways, he studied at the Faculty of Economics, where he met an emigre Jewish-German descent, Oscar Schloss, who had a second-hand bookshop. After his death in 1945, Schloss Beyeler bought this shop and in 1947 organized an exhibition where his pervyyu - Japanese prints.

In 1951 he finally transformed the bookstore into the gallery, but the love of good edition he retained throughout his life: each of its catalog is a small work of art. In particular, he published catalog of Picasso. In his Dictionary of Picasso, Pierre Dax wrote: "Picasso, who knew about the activities of the gallery Beyeler poizdannym of directories, made for the Marchand's something that never did any other, even for Kanvaylera - dvet he opened his shop and said:" Choose all what you want! ".

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the way, Beyeler skillfully took advantage of trust relationships established between him and Picasso, and helped to William Rubin, then director of the New Yorskskogo Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) to purchase one of the most iconic works by Picasso - kubistskuyu sculpture in 1912 "Guitar - Assemblage" .

Picasso did not want to sell it, he did not need the money. Then Beyeler Rubin suggested that we should offer to exchange it for Picasso's work on the painting by Cezanne from the collection of the Museum of Contemporary Art - "Pokasso despise money - he said - but could not resist soblaschzna Cezanne. Rasstroganny such a gesture, Picasso had sold his work, asking nothing in return. Since Beyeler enjoyed ogromnyi piitetom in the United States.

Activities Beyeler truly unfolded after the American collector David Thompson suggested that he buy his paintings of Paul Klee - but not one, not two, but about a hundred. Beyeler hurry up, somewhere got hold of the necessary capital and bought them, and even eighty Giacometti vpridachu.

Today, these names - synonyms of millions of dollars, but while they are very few people were interested. Actually, no more than Monet: late Monet, author of "lily" was considered something quite small. Thanks to Jean Planck Beyeler correspondent in Paris, introduced him to Jean Dubuffet, Swiss Marchand was one of the first buyers of Monet. Beyeler Foundation now owns one of the most important triptychs. "When I needed something to sell - Beyeler said - no one wanted what I was selling. And when all wanted to buy my things, I no longer had to sell them. "

Beyeler has always stressed that he had no intention to create a collection. He simply bought too much, and selling too little ... Moreover, having sold some of his works, and sometimes he was sorry that left her. Thus, by selling one of its customers MZ "Improvisation X" Kandinsky, he finally bought it.

He had a lot of paintings by Kandinsky - the widow of the artist belonged to scheam in Swiss banks with great respect. But he had, and Pollock, De Kooning, Rothko, Roy Lichtenstein, Mark Tobey, Ellsworth Kelly. The last two relationships had been quite friendly. The last years of life Toby lived in Basel. And Beyeler, neopravavshiysya after the first stroke, he suddenly came to life when Toby came to the Foundation ...

1970-e gg. been difficult for him - the oil crisis affected the art market. It was during this period, several colleagues approached him with the idea to create a Bazere Art Fair. "I was against it, unconditionally - he told me in his interview in Le Monde De from 3rd April 2002, but my colleagues insisted. I could not suppose that this fair will be a success, and did not expect that to attract customers who usually rode to shop in New York, London and Paris to Basel bydet so profitable from a commercial point of view.

To date, the Basel Fair - the largest in the world. "Add to success fair off the art market - and you will find that helped me pay off debts and earn a lot of money in 1980. It was dess \\ yatiletie on protyadzhenii which I been lucky. "

After these years of "fat cows" became possible to create a fund. Beyeler asked by architect Renzo Piano. Foundation Beyeler was opened in 1997, simultaneously with the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao. However, it is impossible to imagine a more dissimilar the museum: the building of the Fund without any frills (the architect explaining how he sees his Foundation Beyeler described it this way: "Luxury, tranquility, sensuality"), carefully sorted, coherent collection.
Ernst Beyeler and Hilda (she died July 18, 2008) is very actively supported the movement to protect animals and nature. They founded a fund - "The Art of the Rainforest".

I would like the name Ernst Beyeler was linked in people's minds with such a history: in 1997 he received us in a small room in his gallery on Baumlyayngasse located directly opposite the house where he died Erasmus Rotterdamsky. On the easel was a portrait of Dora Maar, Picasso painted in 1944, "This is a difficult picture, perhaps even unbribable, because it really is very unattractive. Picasso wrote it in the midst of war, hence the severity of the portrait - the severity of this characteristic is not Dora, and the period. The first time I saw this Picasso twenty years ago, James Johnson Sweeney. I pursued him up until he sold it to me. "

Next he put his other work, a portrait of Cezanne cussed in a yellow chair and pointed out the analogy between the two works: the same folded hands, the same kind otssutstvuyuschy, the same severity. "I carefully select my things. I think that under this condition can be related to the work of artists such as Cezanne - the fathers of modern art, with their successors and contemporary artists. I like to establish links between the art of the past and nastoyazschego. Of course, it is difficult paintings. But life is not easy. Joy gives way to tragedy. Art gives us the strength to continue their work.

Arri Belle