Suzanne Bollag
Suzanne Bollag was born in Zurich on September
5, 1917 to Léon and Betty Bollag-Moos. The cosmopolitan atmosphere
at home had a strong influence on her, as well as her siblings. They
were accustomed to seeing fine works of art at home, and would freely
switch from one language to another while talking to each other. Her
fluency in English, French and German enabled her to work for an aviatic
magazine in Geneva in her youth. Later, during the Second World War,
she worked as a translator for the Swiss army.
In April 1958, she opened her first gallery in Zurich on Limmatquai
116, showing three artists that fascinated her: Max Bill, Serge Poliakoff
and Hans Hartung. Konkrete Kunst, an art form that was gaining momentum
in Switzerland was her main passion. To name just a few of the artists:
Max Bill, Jakob Bill, Andreas Christen, Piero Dorazio, Hans Fischli,
Annemie Fontana, Hans Hinterreiter, Max Huber, Verena Loewensberg, Lodewijk,
Pia Pizzo, Natale Sapone, Sonja Sekula, Georges Vantongerloo.
Suzanne Bollag did her own editions of their works on paper. She was
a dedicated gallerist and a loyal person, thus her relationships with
the artists often turned into friendships for a lifetime.
Besides her main artistic preferences, she also dealt with the great
names of the first half of the twentieth century, such as Pablo Picasso,
Paul Klee, Max Ernst, Yves Tanguy, Joan Miro and others.
For many years, she presented her selection at the ART in Basel. In
her gallery, she held 12 (!) exhibitions a year, each with its small
but distinguished catalogue in the form of a leporello. (see
> Gallery Suzanne Bollag, List of Exhibitions1958-1995)
In 1982, business in Switzerland being at an ebb, she had to close her
gallery on Limmatquai 116. She was widely appreciated and known for
her competence and charm, but sales were too low at the time to survive
as an independent gallerist.
Her elder brother, Max G. Bollag offered her to join him in his spacious
gallery and built a separate cubicle for her. It would not have been
possible to coexist, had they not been very fond of each other. It was
not easy, for their tastes in art and ideas about presentation of pictures
were different, but they shared the gallery for the nine years to come.
In 1991, Suzanne Bollag found a new location on Asylstrasse 39 in Zurich,
and re-opened her own gallery. This decision shows her enthusiastic
and resourceful personality – she would not give up. Her friends
and customers were delighted to see her in her new surroundings.
In 1995, the Winterthur Art Museum did a retrospective of Sonja Sekula,
an artist Suzanne had supported and encouraged for many years. Unfortuntely,
the opening of the show she had so looked forward to had to take place
without her. She passed away in July 1995. It is a pity she was not
able to write her autobiography, a project she held to heart and planned
to publish in celebration of her 80th birthday. It would have been an
enlightening and witty book.
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