The Interview with Hans-Peter Keller, Head of Swiss Art, Zürich

How would you define Swiss Art?
It is art made by a Swiss-born artist. It does not matter if the artist then moved away from Switzerland as we find with the artist Hans Hinterreiter who spent most of his life in Spain. However, we also include the works of international artists who spent most of their artistic career in Switzerland or whose master period took place here as Swiss artists.

Why do you do what you do?
Ever since I can remember I wanted to study art history, to know about the art market. I guess that art was in the family: my uncle is an artist, both my grandmothers were artistic and collected art. Reading art books, visiting museums and seeing exhibitions was very much part of my upbringing.

There are so many wonderful works in this sale but which one would you like to take home?
All of them. No, seriously, it would have to be the Giovanni Giacometti landscape which depicts the Bergell Valley near the Italian border. The image captures a winter morning, the sunlight cannot reach the valley, just the tops of the mountains. It is cold, snowy. I love the blues. What I also love is the provenance. This work was thought lost as it was last seen in 1918 at the Moos Gallery in Geneva. As a poor artist Giacometti would not have had the funds to photograph his work but he did keep a record in a registro dei quadri. This notebook records that he sold the work for 800 Swiss Francs. What we now know is that it was given as a wedding gift in 1924 and when the married couple left Switzerland it was thought lost ever since.

If you could have dinner with a Swiss artist, living or dead, who would it be and why?
The artist Giovanni Giacommetti (1868-1933). He had a daughter and three sons, two of whom became very famous artists: Alberto and Diego. I am a close friend of his youngest son, Bruno, who is perhaps not so young – 102! He has an extraordinary memory and he has told me so much over the years. He has recently published a book of memoirs. I would have loved to have had the opportunity to be part of a big Giacometti family dinner.

Is there an artist or work of art you dream of coming across one day?
It is not about the artist but about the discovery and even better, to find something that has been lost. When something has been lost and you find it, well, that’s very exciting.