Installation view, Rene Ricard: and if you arrive, do you know you are there?, Vito Schnabel Gallery, St. Moritz, 2025; © The Estate of Rene Ricard; Photo by Stefan Altenburger; Courtesy the Estate of Rene Ricard and Vito Schnabel Gallery
An adventure that began in 2015 and is now one of the main players on the contemporary scene in St. Moritz: this is the Swiss headquarters of the Vito Schnabel Gallery, founded in New York in 2013 and present at the most prestigious international fairs, including Frieze Masters (2025), Art Basel Miami Beach (2023) and Art Basel in the Unlimited section (2021).
The gallery owner told Il Giornale dell’Arte about his decision to open a branch in one of the most famous locations for international elite tourism, linked more to a long history of friendship than to a commercial strategy: «I was looking for
a space outside of New York to open my second gallery. I had spent a lot of time in Zurich and St. Moritz with Bruno Bischofberger, and had a special relationship to the Engadine. In 2015, Bruno offered me his space, and I took it over (the Bruno Bischofberger gallery is now located in Männedorf, a few kilometres from Zurich, ed.). We opened the gallery with an exhibition by Urs Fischer, dedicated to Bruno and his wife Yoyo, featuring a life-size candle portrait of the two of them that was lit for the duration of the show. It was a beautiful ceremonial homage and passing of the torch of the space. Concurrent with our Fischer exhibition, we also presented an outdoor installation of Sterling Ruby’s STOVES, across the street at the Kulm Hotel. It’s been an amazing ten years, I’ve had the opportunity to present incredible exhibitions, from Dan Flavin to Pat Steir, Markus Lüpertz, Angel Otero, Francesco Clemente, and now Miró».