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| {{Infobox organization | |||
| ⚫ | |||
| | name = Galerie Gmurzynska | |||
| '''Galerie Gmurzynska''' is a commercial ] in Switzerland that specializes in modern and ], including exhibitions by North Americans such as tattoo artist Scott Campbell and action film star Sylvester Stallone. The gallery usually self-publishes a catalogue for its shows. | |||
| ⚫ | | image = Galerie Gmurzynska in Paradeplatz, Zurich..tif | ||
| | image_size = | |||
| | alt = | |||
| | caption = | |||
| | formation = 1965 | |||
| | founding_location = ], Germany | |||
| | founder = Antonina Gmurzynska | |||
| | purpose = Art gallery | |||
| | headquarters = ], Switzerland | |||
| | location = ], Switzerland<br>], Switzerland<br>], Switzerland | |||
| | owners = Krystyna Gmurzynska<br>Mathias Rastorfer | |||
| | coords = {{coord|47.369|8.538|display=inline, title}} | |||
| | website = {{URL|gmurzynska.com}} | |||
| }} | |||
| '''Galerie Gmurzynska''' is a commercial ] based in ], Switzerland, specializing in modern and ] and work by the ]. It became a popular venue for international collectors seeking Russian art that was banned by the ] regime, and, according to ''Artnet,'' became the "go-to place for Russian art for international collectors".<ref name=":2">{{Cite news|url=https://news.artnet.com/art-world/see-three-generations-women-forged-50-year-legacy-galerie-gmurzynska-307827|title=Find Out How Three Generations of Women Have Forged a 50-Year Legacy at Galerie Gmurzynska {{!}} artnet News|date=2015-06-13|work=artnet News|access-date=2018-10-09|language=en-US}}</ref> | |||
| The gallery is currently being investigated by the FCA (Federal Customs Administration) for alleged VAT evasion totalling some six million Swiss francs. Under Swiss law, owners of artworks do not have to pay import charges until works of art are formally brought into the country, i.e. they come out of storage and are officially transferred. On Tuesday April 16th 2013, the gallery was raided by officials on the suspicion of supplying the five-star Hotel Dolder in Zurich with imported artworks valuing 75M Swiss Francs without paying duty. <ref>http://www.zurich4you.ch/hotel_dolder_grand_and_galerie_gmurzynska_raided.html </ref> | |||
| The gallery buys and sells mostly works by modern and contemporary artists. It also sells pieces at art fairs by artists such as ], ], ], ], Robert and Sonia Delaunay, Stallone and Fernando Botero. The gallery works with the estates of ], ], ], and ] among others. It also arranged for an exhibition of ] at the Museum of Modern Art in Nice in 2015<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://news.artnet.com/art-world/celebrity-artist-sylvester-stallone-tames-crowd-glitzy-french-riviera-show-opening-299222|title=Celebrity Artist Sylvester Stallone's Show Opening - artnet News|date=2015-05-18|work=artnet News|access-date=2018-10-09|language=en-US}}</ref> and hosts the artwork of fashion designer ] and the architect ].<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.artsy.net/article/editorial-the-mother-and-daughter-behind-galerie-gmurzynska|title=The Mother and Daughter Behind Galerie Gmurzynska|date=2013-11-14|work=Artsy|access-date=2018-10-09|language=en}}</ref> | |||
| The Swiss authorities seized a large number of documents during their raid. Gmurzynska filed a complaint in order to prevent their inspection, but the Federal Court has ruled that in a criminal investigation of this kind where there is reasonable suspicion, the prosecuting FCA can demand to see papers it considers relevant to the case. <ref>http://www.tagesanzeiger.ch/zuerich/region/Galerie-Gmurzynska-blitzt-vor-Bundesgericht-ab/story/20693778</ref> | |||
| The gallery also publishes books and catalogues for its exhibitions. | |||
| The case has been covered in several international outlets including 'Die Welt'.<ref>http://www.welt.de/kultur/kunst-und-architektur/article123277175/Kunst-Keine-schoene-Bescherung-in-Zuerich.html</ref> | |||
| == |
== Controversies == | ||
| The gallery was founded in 1965 in Cologne, Germany by Antonina Gmurzynska. Galerie Gmurzynska made its name as a supplier of avant-garde Russian art to Western collectors. According to Geraldine Norman OBE, an advisor to the Hermitage Museum, Antonina 'sought out the artists' families in Russia and became adept at sneaking art out of the country - art which was anyway banned by the Soviet government.'<ref name="telegraph">http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/4713862/A-tragic-flight-to-freedom.html</ref> | |||
| Its current owner, Krystna Gmurzynska-Bscher took over the gallery following her mother's death in 1986 and now runs it with her business partner Mathias Rastorfer. | |||
| In 1990, after losing a legal dispute with the local revenue authorities, the gallery left Germany permanently and moved its operations to Switzerland. The Galerie was involved in the removal of a major collection of documents, drawings and paintings by Russian Futurist artists estimated at around £100M belonging to Nikolai Khardzhiev and his wife Lidia Chaga. Geraldine Norman has described how 'Krystyna and Rastorfer went to Moscow with Professor Weststeijn in 1993 to meet the Khardzhievs. They drew up and signed an agreement through which Krystyna would give the old couple $2.5 million in Amsterdam. In return she was promised four paintings and two gouaches by Malevich worth some $30 million.' The gallery arranged the packing and removal of the couple's Moscow flat, but little of their archive ever reached them in Amsterdam. When the loss became public knowledge in Russia, there was an outcry aimed at the Russian Ministry of Culture. The investigating Russian authorities recovered a case containing a document outlining a deal struck between Gmurzynska and the couple: | |||
| 'It contained two revealing documents: a single paragraph agreement between Khardzhiev and Krystyna Gmurzynska in which she promised "material support" to the tune of $2.5 million after he reached Amsterdam, and a page containing sketches of six works by Malevich inscribed "I, Kh. N. I. , give to K.G.B. to keep for ever six works of Kaz. M. ". The first document was witnessed by Chaga, Willem Weststeijn and Krystyna's business partner, Mathias Rastorfer. | |||
| Rastorfer, however, says that these documents were not contracts but merely "letters of intent". The gallery negotiated a tougher deal once the two old people were in Holland. He says that he rang the Hilton a couple of months after they arrived to sort things out and discovered that they were furious with the gallery. They felt that they had been deceived and abandoned; only part of the collection and archives had reached them and they had been left to their own devices at the Hilton while their visas ran out.''<ref name="telegraph" /> | |||
| ''The New York Times'' reported that 'After the agreement came to light in 1994, Ms. Gmurzynska and Mr. Rastorfer denied taking part in the smuggling. But they would not say how the trove was moved, only that they advanced the couple money to relocate in November 1993 and completed the purchase of the art after it left Russia. The Khardzhievs told a very different story. The two art dealers not only took charge of moving their belongings, they said, but also helped to pack and carry away suitcases full of art. | |||
| ''Even this lady Gmurzynska was carrying very heavy valises,'' Mr. Khardzhiev told a Russian journalist, Konstantin Akinsha, who interviewed him in Amsterdam two years later. ''I was impressed by her womanly strength.''<ref>http://www.nytimes.com/2003/03/31/arts/for-collector-russian-art-end-dream-murky-trail-behind-rediscovered-works.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm</ref> | |||
| More recently, Galerie Gmurzynska was involved in a dispute with New York dealer Asher B. Edelman. Edelman had loaned a work by American painter Robert Ryman to Galerie Gmurznyska for exhibition in 2007. The painting was damaged but, according to Edelman, Gmurzynska 'disputed the damage claim and instructed its insurer, the Berlin- and Zurich-based Kuhn & Bülow Versicherungsmakler, to refuse payment. Edelman’s insurer, New York-based XL Specialty Insurance, which had insured the Ryman picture for $750,000, then made Edelman its assignee and he took the gallery to federal court.'<ref>http://www.blouinartinfo.com/news/story/276117/seized-the-day</ref> Edelman resolved the matter at the opening of the Art Basel Miami Beach fair when he arranged for Miami Police, carrying a writ of execution for an unanswered lawsuit against the gallery, to confiscate some of Gmurzynska's works. The suit included 'an additional $250,000 for “willful conduct of defendant” and “reprehensible motives and such wanton dishonesty as to imply a criminal indifference to civil obligations.” The suit resulted in a default judgment for the plaintiff for about $765,000.''<ref>http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=aX82sXGnDW4Y</ref> | |||
| In a piece titled 'Seized the Day', Artinfo describes how 'Gmurzynska paid the judgment plus incidental costs, including the expense of enlisting the services of the U.S. marshals, and the confiscated pictures were returned to the gallery’s stand.' Rastorfer's response was to deny any knowledge of the legal action and claim that had been served upon Gmurzynska's gallery. | |||
| === Edelman v Gmurzynska insurance dispute === | |||
| Between 2007 and 2009, the gallery was involved in a dispute with dealer Asher B. Edelman, who had loaned a work to Gmurzynska that was returned damaged.<ref name="blouinart2">{{cite web |date=2010-02-04 |title=Seized the Day |url=http://www.blouinartinfo.com/news/story/276117/seized-the-day |url-status=dead |accessdate=2015-06-02 |publisher=Blouinartinfo.com |archive-date=2015-09-23 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150923223423/http://www.blouinartinfo.com/news/story/276117/seized-the-day }}</ref> Gmurzynska was accused of ignoring the claim.<ref name="blouinart2" /> In 2009, a U.S. district court judge awarded Edelman a default judgment of $765,000 to which Gmurzynska failed to respond, leading four of the Gmurzynska's paintings to be seized at the Miami Beach Art Fair and held for two days until the gallery paid the judgment.<ref name="blouinart2" /><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.artforum.com/news/us-marshals-seize-works-at-art-basel-miami-beach-24322|title=US Marshals Seize Works at Art Basel Miami Beach|website=www.artforum.com|language=en-US|access-date=2018-10-09}}</ref> Edelman was awarded an additional $250,000 for what the judge described as the gallery's "wilful conduct" in the matter, i.e. their failure to respond to the lawsuit. Gmurzynska disputed any wrongdoing, stating that "the gallery never received any notice that Mr. Edelman had applied for a default judgment".<ref>{{Cite web |date=2009-12-03 |title=Edelman v. Gmurzynska at ABMB |url=http://www.artmarketmonitor.com/2009/12/03/edelman-v-gmurzynska-at-abmb/ |url-status=dead |access-date=2017-09-10 |website=Art Market Monitor |archive-date=2017-09-11 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170911024842/http://www.artmarketmonitor.com/2009/12/03/edelman-v-gmurzynska-at-abmb/ }}</ref> | |||
| == References == | == References == | ||
| {{Reflist}} | {{Reflist|2}} | ||
| ==External links== | ==External links== | ||
| *{{official website|http://www.gmurzynska.com/ }} | *{{official website|http://www.gmurzynska.com/ }} | ||
| {{Authority control}} | |||
| {{DEFAULTSORT:Galerie Gmurzynska}} | |||
| ] | ] | ||
Latest revision as of 10:07, 18 May 2024
 | |
| Formation | 1965 |
|---|---|
| Founder | Antonina Gmurzynska |
| Founded at | Cologne, Germany |
| Purpose | Art gallery |
| Headquarters | Zürich, Switzerland |
| Location |
|
| Coordinates | 47°22′08″N 8°32′17″E / 47.369°N 8.538°E / 47.369; 8.538 |
| Owners | Krystyna Gmurzynska Mathias Rastorfer |
| Website | gmurzynska |
Galerie Gmurzynska is a commercial art gallery based in Zurich, Switzerland, specializing in modern and contemporary art and work by the Russian avant-garde. It became a popular venue for international collectors seeking Russian art that was banned by the Soviet regime, and, according to Artnet, became the "go-to place for Russian art for international collectors".
The gallery buys and sells mostly works by modern and contemporary artists. It also sells pieces at art fairs by artists such as Pablo Picasso, Kurt Schwitters, Fernand Léger, Lyonel Feininger, Robert and Sonia Delaunay, Stallone and Fernando Botero. The gallery works with the estates of Yves Klein, Wifredo Lam, Louise Nevelson, and Robert Indiana among others. It also arranged for an exhibition of Sylvester Stallone at the Museum of Modern Art in Nice in 2015 and hosts the artwork of fashion designer Karl Lagerfeld and the architect Richard Meier.
The gallery also publishes books and catalogues for its exhibitions.
Controversies
Edelman v Gmurzynska insurance dispute
Between 2007 and 2009, the gallery was involved in a dispute with dealer Asher B. Edelman, who had loaned a work to Gmurzynska that was returned damaged. Gmurzynska was accused of ignoring the claim. In 2009, a U.S. district court judge awarded Edelman a default judgment of $765,000 to which Gmurzynska failed to respond, leading four of the Gmurzynska's paintings to be seized at the Miami Beach Art Fair and held for two days until the gallery paid the judgment. Edelman was awarded an additional $250,000 for what the judge described as the gallery's "wilful conduct" in the matter, i.e. their failure to respond to the lawsuit. Gmurzynska disputed any wrongdoing, stating that "the gallery never received any notice that Mr. Edelman had applied for a default judgment".
References
- "Find Out How Three Generations of Women Have Forged a 50-Year Legacy at Galerie Gmurzynska | artnet News". artnet News. 2015-06-13. Retrieved 2018-10-09.
- "Celebrity Artist Sylvester Stallone's Show Opening - artnet News". artnet News. 2015-05-18. Retrieved 2018-10-09.
- "The Mother and Daughter Behind Galerie Gmurzynska". Artsy. 2013-11-14. Retrieved 2018-10-09.
- ^ "Seized the Day". Blouinartinfo.com. 2010-02-04. Archived from the original on 2015-09-23. Retrieved 2015-06-02.
- "US Marshals Seize Works at Art Basel Miami Beach". www.artforum.com. Retrieved 2018-10-09.
- "Edelman v. Gmurzynska at ABMB". Art Market Monitor. 2009-12-03. Archived from the original on 2017-09-11. Retrieved 2017-09-10.