Rolf Wilhelm Albert Sachs colloquially Rolf Sachs (born 10 August 1955) is a Swiss artist, designer, art collector and philanthropist. He is the oldest son of

Gunter Sachs Fritz Gunter Sachs colloquially Gunter Sachs (14 November 1932 – 7 May 2011) also Gunter Sachs von Opel was a German-born Swiss industrial heir, socialite, art collector, photographer and author. He was primarily known for his jet set life ...

and a member of the

Opel family Opel Automobile GmbH (), usually shortened to Opel, is a German automobile manufacturer which has been a subsidiary of Stellantis since 16 January 2021. It was owned by the American automaker General Motors from 1929 until 2017 and the PSA Gr ...

Early life and education

Sachs was born 10 August 1955 in

Lausanne, Switzerland Lausanne ( , ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Swiss French-speaking canton of Vaud, in Switzerland. It is a hilly city situated on the shores of Lake Geneva, about halfway between the Jura Mountains and the Alps, and facing the ...

, the oldest of three children, of

, an industrial heir and socialite, and his first wife Anne-Marie Sachs (

née The birth name is the name of the person given upon their birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name or to the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a births registe ...

Faure; 1934–1958). His mother was originally from France and died from

anesthesia Anesthesia (American English) or anaesthesia (British English) is a state of controlled, temporary loss of sensation or awareness that is induced for medical or veterinary purposes. It may include some or all of analgesia (relief from or prev ...

error during an operation. He had two younger half-brothers; Christian Gunnar Sachs and "Claus" Alexander Sachs (born 1982). His paternal family was affluent and associated with a variety of industries. His grandfather was

Willy Sachs Wilhelm Josef Sachs known as Willy Sachs (23 July 1896 – 19 November 1958) was a German industrialist and Nazi party member. He served in the SS as an ''Obersturmbannführer'' and was appointed as a ''Wehrwirtschaftsführer'', recognizing his ...

, an industrialist and majority owner of

Fichtel & Sachs ZF Sachs AG, also known as Fichtel & Sachs, was founded in Schweinfurt in 1895 and was a well-known German family business. At its last point as an independent company, the company name was Fichtel & Sachs AG. In 1997, the automotive supplier w ...

, an automotive parts manufacturer. His great-grandfather was Wilhelm von Opel, an engineer and co-founder of the Opel company, as well as son of

Adam Opel Adam Opel (9 May 1837 – 8 September 1895) was a German entrepreneur who founded the company Adam Opel AG, then a manufacturer of bicycles and sewing machines. Biography Adam Opel was born on 9 May 1837 to Wilhelm, a locksmith, and his wif ...

. He was educated at

Institut Le Rosey Institut Le Rosey (), commonly referred to as Le Rosey or simply Rosey, is a private school, private boarding school in Rolle, Switzerland. It was founded in 1880 by Paul-Émile Carnal on the site of the 14th-century Château du Rosey in the tow ...

and the

Lyceum Alpinum Zuoz Lyceum Alpinum Zuoz is an international boarding school in Zuoz, near St. Moritz in Switzerland. Founded in 1904, it is located in the upper part of the alpine village in the area of Surmulins. There are around 300 pupils, including 220 in the ...

. From 1975 he started to study economics in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

and

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

. He holds a

Bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ...

Business Administration Business administration is the administration of a commercial enterprise. It includes all aspects of overseeing and supervising the business operations of an organization. Overview The administration of a business includes the performance o ...

from

Menlo College Menlo College is a private college specializing in business and located in Atherton, California, United States. Campus Menlo College is situated on a 45-acre (0.18 km2) campus in Atherton, California, 25 miles southeast of San Francisco an ...

in Menlo Park,

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

Career

He started his formal career in investment banking before fully committing to the art world. Since 1984 he is also active as furniture designer and since 2006 also as a set designer (theater and movies). He moved to

in 1994 and founded his design studio ''rolf sachs fun'ction'' there. According to his own statements, he was heavily influenced by

Suprematism Suprematism () is an early 20th-century art movement focused on the fundamentals of geometry (circles, squares, rectangles), painted in a limited range of colors. The term ''suprematism'' refers to an abstract art based upon "the supremacy of p ...

Dada Dada () or Dadaism was an anti-establishment art movement that developed in 1915 in the context of the Great War and the earlier anti-art movement. Early centers for dadaism included Zürich and Berlin. Within a few years, the movement had s ...

ism,

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 ...

, the

Nouveau Réalisme A ''nouveau'' ( ), or ''vin (de) primeur'', is a wine which may be sold in the same year in which it was harvested. The most widely exported ''nouveau'' wine is French wine Beaujolais ''nouveau'' which is released on the third Thursday of ...

group of artists and the artist

Joseph Beuys Joseph Heinrich Beuys ( ; ; 12 May 1921 – 23 January 1986) was a German artist, teacher, performance artist, and Aesthetics, art theorist whose work reflected concepts of humanism and sociology. With Heinrich Böll, , Caroline Tisdall, Rober ...

. His penchant for chairs follows on from an extensive collection of chairs begun in the late 1980s. A large special exhibition with design objects that deal with German virtues took place in 2014 in the Museum for Applied Arts in Cologne. Additionally after his studies he briefly worked for his family's company as specialist and investor for 'alternative investments'. He is still active in the world of finance and investments through his single family office ''galaxar ag'' which has offices in

Chur '' Chur (locally) or ; ; ; ; ; ; or ; , and . is the capital and largest List of towns in Switzerland, town of the Switzerland, Swiss Cantons of Switzerland, canton of the Grisons and lies in the Alpine Rhine, Grisonian Rhine Valley, where ...

and

Zug Zug (Standard German: , Alemannic German: ; ; ; ; )Named in the 16th century. is the largest List of cities in Switzerland, town and capital of the Swiss canton of Zug. Zug is renowned as a hub for some of the wealthiest individuals in the wor ...

. Also he holds several advisory and board member positions on a national and international level.

Art and design

Rolf Sachs's work moves between art and design, objects, spaces and visual medium. It encourages his audience to question preconceptions and view objects from a different perspective, through an inquisitive and conceptual approach. Sachs’ work was initially inspired by the principles of minimalism. Restrained decoration, deconstructed right angles and sharp corners were the defining characteristics of his work, predominantly made from felt and solid wood. His work has changed over the years, becoming more experimental and conceptual and therefore not as definable. He searches for the unconventional and the unexpected, a philosophy reflected in his artistic style. Rolf Sachs has exhibited at numerous art and design galleries including th
MAKK Museum
in Cologne
Galerie von Bartha
in St Moritz, th
Victoria & Albert Museum
in London, ammann// gallery a
Design Miami BaselPhillips de Pury & Company New York
Monica Sprüth Cologne an
Faggionato Fine Arts in London
His set designs the Faust opera, which debuted at Wiesbaden Staatstheater and the Faust ballet at the

Les Ballets de Monte Carlo Les Ballets de Monte-Carlo (The Monte Carlo Ballet) is a classical ballet company established in 1985 by Caroline, Princess of Hanover in accordance with the wishes of her mother, Princess Grace of Monaco. It is the national company of the Princ ...

, which toured globally. In March 2009, Sachs completed the set design for Vincenzo Bellini's “

Norma Norma may refer to: * Norma (given name), a given name (including a list of people with the name) ** Norma Lizbeth Ramos, a Mexican bullying victim Astronomy *Norma (constellation) * 555 Norma, a minor asteroid * Cygnus Arm or Norma Arm, a spiral ...

” at the Opera de Monte Carlo. Rolf Sachs Studio

Rolf collaborated with his stepmother Maryam Sachs on developing the concept for the photographic project entitle
''The Wild Emperor''
where over a period of a year, a stationary camera captured the Wild Kaiser mountain range outside his house in

Bavaria Bavaria, officially the Free State of Bavaria, is a States of Germany, state in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the list of German states by area, largest German state by land area, comprising approximately 1/5 of the total l ...

, in 10.5 minute intervals. At the end of September 2016, Sachs published a yearlong photographic exploration on the UNESCO World Heritage Rhaetian Albula /

Bernina Railway The Bernina railway line (; ; ) is a Single track (rail), single-track railway line forming part of the Rhaetian Railway (RhB). It links the spa resort of St. Moritz, in the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Graubünden, Switzerland, with the tow ...

line, entitle
''Camera in Motion: From Chur to Tirano''
In this recent project Sachs's photographs were taken from a moving train. These images uncover Sachs's experimental approach to photography and challenge the viewer to step towards an unknown reality. The book features 87 photographs and includes texts by Bill Kouwenhoven and Helen Chislett, and is published b

In October 2016, Sachs designed the Leica M-P (Typ 240) special edition 'grip' by Rolf Sachs, in collaboration wit
Leica Camera AG
The new, limited edition, model unites the iconic rangefinder technology with artistic product design with a combination of unusual materials and the artist's signature bright red colour palette.

Personal life

In 1985, Sachs married Iranian-born Maryam Banihashem (born 1961), an author and publisher, originally from

Tehran Tehran (; , ''Tehrân'') is the capital and largest city of Iran. It is the capital of Tehran province, and the administrative center for Tehran County and its Central District (Tehran County), Central District. With a population of around 9. ...

. They had three children together; * Philipp Sachs (born 1986) * Frederik Sachs (born 1988) * Roya Sachs (born 1991) In 1994, Sachs moved his family to London, where they lived until 2018. In 2014, Sachs separated from his wife, with a divorce being finalized the same year. He has ever since been in a relationship with Princess Mafalda of Hesse (born 1965), sister of the Head of the House of Hesse, Heinrich Donatus of Hesse, who is husband to Floria Countess of Faber-Castell. Sachs currently resides with her in

Rome, Italy Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

, and St. Moritz, Switzerland.

References

External links

*
Rolf Sachs Website
*
"Rolf Sachs covers Leica camera in ping-pong rubber" Dezeen Website, 13 October 2016

"Photo finish: Rolf Sachs designs a ping pong rubber-cased camera for Leica" Wallpaper* website, 14 October 2016

*
In-pulse!' by Rolf Sachs Studio, Milan'' Wallpaper* website, 19 April 2011
*
''Rolf Sachs Studio Invitations'' Wallpaper* website, 19 April 2011
*
''Salone: Rolf Sachs'' Whitewall website, 18 April 2011
*
''Rolf Sachs discusses 'In-Pulse! Vogue.it, 14 April 2011
*

* ttp://www.dezeen.com/2010/06/25/alone-in-a-crowd-by-rolf-sachs/ ''Alone in a crowd by Rolf Sachs'' Dezeen website, 25 June 2010*
''Alone in a crowd table by Rolf Sachs'' Mocoloco website, 24 June 2010
*
''“flawless/imperfection” by Rolf Sachs'' Artslope website, 13 April 2010
*

* ttp://www.weheart.co.uk/2010/09/28/ldf10-rolf-sachs-open-studio/ Rolfs Sachs Open Studio at LDF 2010*
Article by Caroline Roux, The Observer, Sunday 22 October 2006
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sachs, Rolf 1955 births Living people Artists from Lausanne Swiss-German people German artists Alumni of Institut Le Rosey Alumni of Lyceum Alpinum Zuoz