Gagosian Opens 20th Gallery in Gstaad, Switzerland

Larry Gagosian, the 76-year-old California-born gallerist, has announced the opening of his 20th gallery worldwide, located in the Swiss mountain resort of Gstaad. This marks his third Swiss outpost, joining existing spaces in Geneva and Basel. The new gallery, situated on the main street at Promenade 79, is a ground-floor space designed by Rémi Tessier, who also designed Gagosian's recent Paris location. It will open on February 14 with a Damien Hirst exhibition titled "Myths, Legends and Monsters," featuring oil paintings created over the last 15 years that have never been shown before. The works depict iconic figures such as Marilyn Monroe, Pablo Escobar, Malcolm X, and Andy Warhol, exploring themes of celebrity and identity. Gagosian's presence in Gstaad began in 2018 with pop-up exhibitions featuring Giuseppe Penone, Andreas Gursky, Marc Newson, and Ed Ruscha. The Geneva gallery opened over a decade ago, while the Basel space launched in 2019. Millicent Wilner, director of Gagosian, noted that Switzerland has a long history of collecting, with private collections evolving into institutions and foundations, and a new generation continuing patronage. She added that Basel hosts some of the world's most important museum collections, and Gstaad's magic has attracted artists and collectors for decades. The gallery aims to serve a discerning audience in this unique location. Notably, rival mega-gallery Hauser & Wirth also has a presence in Gstaad.