Celebrating the 50th anniversary of von Bartha gallery: an interview with Director Stefan von Bartha

When my parents started the gallery they had a background in graphics, having both studied graphic design at Basel where they met. So at the time, abstract graphic design was important for them in the selection of the artists they represented and I would say that today this is still one of the most representative aspects of the gallery’s identity. Of course we’ve changed a lot and now being the second generation we do things differently but it is still present visually in the gallery’s legacy. Imi Knoebel for example plays a central role in this sense. The programme still features aspects that were introduced by my parents, that I took over or maybe changed a little bit, however the legacy of my parents is still very present as we are still working with artists such as Anna Dickinson and others. For our anniversary exhibition, it was important that we do not present a super hip exhibition, but that we respectfully demonstrate our roots and different interests, for example my father has Hungarian roots so the Hungarian Avantgarde has always been an important aspect of my parents’ work, as well as my mother being Swedish, so as such Swedish art is very present (Olle Baertling for example), also the Estates that we represent such as Camille Graeser and Gerhard Von Graevenitz – these aspects are very present in the show. I think today it is important to find an interesting juxtaposition in the historical aspects of the gallery programme and works and put that into conversation with more contemporary artists within the programme. Today you can see where the gallery comes from, what it stands for and where the gallery is going.

When I came back to Basel in 2006, the idea was to start working at the gallery and be in charge of the contemporary programme. For me it was quite clear that the space where we had been for nearly 30 years definitely did not have the standards to attract contemporary artists, so we needed a new push for the overall operation of the gallery. So the idea was to find another space. When we found this new space, which was an empty garage with a pump station, it was pure luck. We were not looking for such a huge space, we were looking for a smaller one but when we came across the space I was really blown away and I immediately said we have to do this. My parents thought I was crazy but that came as no surprise to them – this they knew already! They accepted the idea and accepted me bringing in very young architects to do the renovation. In the beginning it was all about creating a home for the contemporary art programme. When we opened the space in 2008, it was a moment of huge economic crisis. I was also struggling with the identity of the space; the problem was that we were very focussed on the space itself, we were trying to create this “wow effect” and we made a lot of mistakes, but then it became clearer and clearer over the years what the space should do. The most significant change came when we moved the entire gallery into the same place and brought together both modern and contemporary art. I quickly realised how difficult it was to run two art spaces in a small town like Basel and to explain to everyone why Modern art was being exhibited in one space and Contemporary in the other, then I realised it was interesting to show both and show them together, as we do when exhibiting at art fairs. That was the most important change, to create a set up where we can have that conversation between Modern and Contemporary art. Some galleries go into Modern art as it is a way to make money, other galleries do just Contemporary, but that’s difficult because then their artists get older and are then no longer young and hip – so I was very happy to have been able to work with the set up my parents had created of always having presented both Modern and Contemporary art.

The initial idea was for my father to move out there as the house next to the barn is owned by my father’s partner; she is the owner of that property and my father spends a lot of time up there and he came up with the idea. There is lot going on up there and a long tradition of art galleries such as Bruno Bischofberger, Karsten Greve etc. There has always been a number of galleries  because many collectors, artists and art lovers like to spend their leisure time in the mountains or have second houses there. In comparison to the Basel scene, the people who spend time in the mountains or go on vacation there, are relaxed, and they have the time to enjoy shows. So we realised that there are a lot of interesting contacts there and there was something really beautiful about the opportunity to open a space in S-chanf, which is literally in the middle of nowhere. We wanted to do something totally different to anything we’d done before, so that is how the idea came about. Today it’s a fantastic opportunity for us because the Basel space is huge and if we approach artists that we want to work with or for artists we already work with, it is extremely interesting to offer two totally different set ups – the Basel space being big, established and commercial while S-chanf offers artists a very different space, it’s smaller, intimate and less commercial. There is a very intriguing atmosphere and there is a beauty about spending time up there – when an artist does a show there he or she has complete freedom, we don’t interact with the supervision of the show. Artists love spending time up there and it is essential that artists see the space before coming up with the concept or installing because imagery of the space is not enough; you need to experience the space and its very particular characteristics. Our interaction with the artists and the visitors in this space is very special.

When the pandemic hit in March and April of course we were really worried, because everything had been prepared to celebrate during Art Basel in June. Then when Art Basel was postponed to September, we shifted the exhibition too. The idea initially was to have an exhibition curated by Beat Wismer, who is a very established curator in Switzerland and to open the show in June with a huge event, a big show and celebration with a dinner with over 300 guests. But then of course Corona came, so everything got postponed and later cancelled and at that point we really had to make a difficult decision, to face the situation and change our plans. The one certainty we had left this year, as we no longer had with Basel or any other fairs, was our 50th anniversary, so we decided to open the show in September. Instead of doing one big event we decided to create our own restaurant as people don’t feel comfortable having big celebrations with lots of people at the moment. So our offices are being moved into storage and the entire office space is being transformed into our own private restaurant called Chez Minimax which was the gallery’s original name.We plan to host a series of 20/25 private dinners with maximum 15/25 guests throughout the entire exhibition run, inviting artists, friends, collectors and anyone who has supported the gallery over the last 50 years to say thank you, but also to show them this wonderful exhibition we have curated. In addition, we will present a publication for the 50th anniversary which is coming out in September and that we will then send to everyone all over the world.

The show was built around the title, which was chosen by the curator. The exhibition demonstrates both the historical and contemporary positions of the gallery, we also have some guest artists that really fit the curator’s concept. The title has become even stronger because of the Covid-19 pandemic. We are really trying to reflect on what we have done, where it has brought us and what we want to do in the future and what the overall energy of the gallery is. Visitors will enjoy a big show, including a lot of artists (about 45 artists). For us, the show is about showing the energy we have towards the future. It is positive and helpful to enforce the space and to run an interesting programme and bring new energy to the artists. In the past many of our sales would be made during art fairs, but now that is changing as the gallery is the remaining thing that we can work with. I also think it provides new energy for the artists as the shows gain more importance, we are very excited about that and seek to bring only the best of the best to our visitors. I am now, more than ever, encouraging artists to do their very best because visitors now need to be tempted into the gallery. We have amazing shows coming up and a strong programme ahead of us.

Yes, I am in Copenhagen to participate in the only fair that is taking place – I can’t quite believe it but it opened on Thursday (August 28)! It’s Enter Art Fair which takes place in a huge building and only 500 people are allowed.  With such an immense space the organisers have been able to go ahead with the fair. We are excited to be here but we do not quite know what to expect – I will let you know!