Antonia Gmurzynska first worked in a museum in Poland before moving to Germany to open her own gallery out of a passion for art. This year marks Galerie Gmurzynska’s 50th year in the art dealing business, and three generations of women have led the gallery to its current spot on global rosters.
Founded in 1965 in Cologne, Germany, the gallery quickly made its name as the go-to place for Russian art for international collectors. In the 1960s, the city was a hotbed for boundary-pushing art. The gallery’s fire-red cube-shaped building was already a historical icon.
After several decades in Cologne, the gallery set its sights on Switzerland. The gallery’s Zurich outpost is still situated between the offices of the country’s biggest banks, UBS and Credit Suisse, and its national chocolate treasure, Sprüngli. “It’s actually the building where there was the first Dada show in the ’20s,” Gmurzynska’s granddaughter, Isabelle Bscher, says in the video above. (See 62 Women Share Their Secrets to Art World Success: Part Two.)
Until 1971, the gallery mainly focused on Russian avant-garde art, but soon incorporated Modern and contemporary artists such as Yves Klein, Pablo Picasso, Fernand Leger, and the Haas Brothers and even includes actor-turned-artist Sylvester Stallone (see Celebrity Artist Sylvester Stallone Tames Massive Crowd at Glitzy French Riviera Show Opening).
Watch our video here to find out how the gallery marches on under the guidance of Isabelle Bscher, and longtime CEO, Mathias Rastorfer.