Hubert Looser (born 5 April 1938) is a former Swiss

businessman A businessperson, also referred to as a businessman or businesswoman, is an individual who has founded, owns, or holds shares in (including as an angel investor) a private-sector company. A businessperson undertakes activities (commercial ...

, philanthropist and

art collector A private collection is a privately owned collection of works (usually artworks) or valuable items. In a museum or art gallery context, the term signifies that a certain work is not owned by that institution, but is on loan from an individual ...

. Looser was President of Walter Rentsch Holding AG and ELCO Looser Holding AG. Today Looser is active as a member of the board of the Hubert Looser Foundation.

Life

Looser was born on 5 April 1938 in Vilters,

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

, where he also grew up and attended school. He was the sixth born of seven children. His parents were entrepreneurs and had built the company ELCO. After Looser had earned his MBA from

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

New York, he joined his parents company in 1964 and was responsible for the establishment and leadership of the ELCO Group in

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

and

Luxembourg Luxembourg, officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, is a landlocked country in Western Europe. It is bordered by Belgium to the west and north, Germany to the east, and France on the south. Its capital and most populous city, Luxembour ...

until 1980. During this time, the founding of Remaco AG for business mediation and the takeover of Walter Rentsch AG in the field of office technology took place. In 1973, Looser took over the management of Walter Rentsch AG with 120 employees, which at his resignation in 1992, consisted of 1,200 employees. 1990/92 Looser resigned as president of the corporate groups Walter Rentsch AG and ELCO Looser Holding AG. After selling his company shares, Hubert Looser became increasingly involved in the Fondation Hubert Looser, which he co-founded in 1988 and in which he still serves as president and financially supports his fortune with around 40 worldwide

aid In international relations, aid (also known as international aid, overseas aid, foreign aid, economic aid or foreign assistance) is – from the perspective of governments – a voluntary transfer of resources from one country to another. Th ...

projects. Among other things, came the realization of projects for people with disabilities and children in need, as well as training support for young people in countries such as Cambodia, Albania and Romania or

AIDS The HIV, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a retrovirus that attacks the immune system. Without treatment, it can lead to a spectrum of conditions including acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). It is a Preventive healthcare, pr ...

projects in South Africa, Zimbabwe and Nigeria. Looser is married with Ursula Looser Stingelin, a father of two children from a previous marriage and lives in

Zürich Zurich (; ) is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich. , the municipality had 448,664 inhabitants. The ...

Art collection

During his stay in Paris in 1957 to learn the language, posters from an

Impressionist Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement characterized by visible brush strokes, open Composition (visual arts), composition, emphasis on accurate depiction of light in its changing qualities (often accentuating the effects of the passage ...

exhibition made a big impression on him and he went to museums around the world whenever he had the time. In his twenties, Looser completed various study trips during his training period to Mexico, Japan, Paris, London or New York and laid the foundation of his passion for collecting art. However, his collections first 200 works were mostly Swiss art. Today, Hubert Looser, is considered to be an outstanding private art collector in the Swiss area. His collections main focus is on works of

surrealism Surrealism is an art movement, art and cultural movement that developed in Europe in the aftermath of World War I in which artists aimed to allow the unconscious mind to express itself, often resulting in the depiction of illogical or dreamlike s ...

Abstract expressionism Abstract expressionism in the United States emerged as a distinct art movement in the aftermath of World War II and gained mainstream acceptance in the 1950s, a shift from the American social realism of the 1930s influenced by the Great Depressi ...

and

minimalism In visual arts, music, and other media, minimalism is an art movement that began in the post-war era in western art. The movement is often interpreted as a reaction to abstract expressionism and modernism; it anticipated contemporary post-mi ...

. One of

Willem de Kooning Willem de Kooning ( , ; April 24, 1904 – March 19, 1997) was a Dutch-American abstract expressionist artist. Born in Rotterdam, in the Netherlands, he moved to the United States in 1926, becoming a US citizen in 1962. In 1943, he married pa ...

's largest collections outside of the US is as part of the collection. The museum-suitable works of the collection were introduced in 2008 to the Fondation Hubert Looser, which makes this cultural asset available to the public as a permanent exhibition at the

Kunsthaus Zürich The Kunsthaus Zürich is an art museum in Zurich. It is the biggest art museum in Switzerland by area and houses one of the most important art collections in Switzerland, assembled over time by the Zürcher Kunstgesellschaft, a nonprofit art soc ...

. On 9 October 2021, some pieces from Looser's collection, including works by

Cy Twombly Edwin Parker "Cy" Twombly Jr. (; April 25, 1928July 5, 2011) was an American Painting, painter, Sculpture, sculptor, and photographer. Twombly influenced artists such as Anselm Kiefer, Francesco Clemente, Julian Schnabel, and Jean-Michel Bas ...

Jackson Pollock Paul Jackson Pollock (; January 28, 1912August 11, 1956) was an American painter. A major figure in the abstract expressionist movement, Pollock was widely noticed for his "Drip painting, drip technique" of pouring or splashing liquid household ...

Ellsworth Kelly Ellsworth Kelly (May 31, 1923 – December 27, 2015) was an American painter, sculptor, and printmaker associated with hard-edge painting, Color field painting and minimalism. His works demonstrate unassuming techniques emphasizing line, col ...

, and

Agnes Martin Agnes Bernice Martin (March 22, 1912 – December 16, 2004) was an American abstract painter known for her minimalist style and abstract expressionism. Born in Canada, she moved to the United States in 1931, where she pursued higher education ...

, were moved into the new annex of the Kunsthaus Zürich.

Awards

In 2018, Looser was awarded the Montblanc Arts Patronage Award.

References

External links

*
Homepage Fondation Hubert Looser

Homepage

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, 21 Juli 2013
Catherine Hickley: Swiss Magnate Looser Spends Fortune on Art, Gives It Away

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, 18 Juni 2013 {{DEFAULTSORT:Looser, Hubert 1938 births Living people Swiss art collectors Swiss businesspeople Swiss philanthropists People in international development