Esther Grether (nee Kast, born ) is a Swiss art collector and businesswoman. In February 2023, ''

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine founded by B. C. Forbes in 1917. It has been owned by the Hong Kong–based investment group Integrated Whale Media Investments since 2014. Its chairman and editor-in-chief is Steve Forbes. The co ...

'' estimated her and her net worth at US$1.5 billion.

Early life

Esther Grether was born Esther Kast around 1936.

Business

She inherited a beauty and health care products company from her late husband Hans Grether in 1975 that she continues to run with her daughters. She has been chair of the board of the Basel-based Doetsch Grether Group for more than thirty years. She has served on the Swatch Group's Board of Directors from 1986 until 2014. In 2013 ''Forbes'' magazine estimated her and her family's net worth at US$1.5 billion.

Art collection

Grether possesses one of the most valuable collections of

20th-century art Twentieth-century art—and what it became as modern art—began with modernism in the late nineteenth century. Overview Nineteenth-century movements of Post-Impressionism (), Art Nouveau and Symbolism led to the first twentieth-century art mov ...

in the world. Her collection reportedly includes more than 600 pieces and includes works by

Pablo Picasso Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno María de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santísima Trinidad Ruiz y Picasso (25 October 1881 – 8 April 1973) was a Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, Ceramic art, ceramicist, and Scenic ...

Paul Cézanne Paul Cézanne ( , , ; ; ; 19 January 1839 – 22 October 1906) was a French Post-Impressionism, Post-Impressionist painter whose work introduced new modes of representation, influenced avant-garde artistic movements of the early 20th century a ...

Salvador Dalí Salvador Domingo Felipe Jacinto Dalí i Domènech, Marquess of Dalí of Púbol (11 May 190423 January 1989), known as Salvador Dalí ( ; ; ), was a Spanish Surrealism, surrealist artist renowned for his technical skill, precise draftsmanship, ...

Francis Bacon Francis Bacon, 1st Viscount St Alban (; 22 January 1561 – 9 April 1626) was an English philosopher and statesman who served as Attorney General and Lord Chancellor of England under King James I. Bacon argued for the importance of nat ...

and

Alberto Giacometti Alberto Giacometti (, , ; 10 October 1901 – 11 January 1966) was a Swiss sculptor, painter, Drafter, draftsman and Printmaking, printmaker, who was one of the most important sculptors of the 20th century. His work was particularly influenced ...

. The collection is kept in a converted printing factory which is also her home. Grether owns Bacon's ''

Triptych, May–June 1973 ''Triptych, May–June 1973'' is a triptych completed in 1973 by the Irish-born artist Francis Bacon (artist), Francis Bacon (1909–1992). The oil-on-canvas was painted in memory of Bacon's lover George Dyer (burglar), George Dyer, who committe ...

'' (one of Bacon's three " Black Triptychs"Tóibín, Colm. "Such a Grip and Twist". ''The Dublin Review'', 2000.) which she purchased at auction in 1989 for $6.3 million, a record price for a Bacon painting at that time. She is also believed to own three other Bacon triptychs from the 1970s.Thornton, Sarah.
Francis Bacon claims his place at the top of the market
". ''

The Art Newspaper ''The Art Newspaper'' is a monthly print publication, with daily updates online, founded in 1990 and based in London and New York City. It covers news of the visual arts as they are affected by international politics and economics, developments i ...

'', 29 August 2008. Retrieved on 10 June 2010.Post-War Works Shine at Christie's
" ''Artnet News'', 16 November 2000. Retrieved on 7 May 2007. In December 1962, it was thanks to a bank guarantee provided by Hans Grether, secured on Doetsch Grether shares, that the Basel art dealer

Ernst Beyeler Ernst Beyeler (16 July 1921 – 25 February 2010) was a Swiss art dealer and collector, who became "Europe’s pre-eminent dealer in modern art", according to ''The New York Times'', and "the greatest art dealer since the war", according to ''T ...

was able to buy the American collector G. David Thompson's entire collection of 70 Giacometti works.

References

External links

Doetsch Grether AG - About us
{{DEFAULTSORT:Grether, Esther Living people 1930s births Swiss billionaires Swiss art collectors Women art collectors Female billionaires Businesspeople from Basel-Stadt Year of birth missing (living people)