Ursula Hauser mit fünfundachtzig
For over four decades, Ursula Hauser has been drawn to works by visionary artists, building what has become one of the world’s most impressive private collections of modern and contemporary art. In celebration of Ursula’s 85th birthday, discover the story of her life, work and collection through the artists and exhibitions that have been a part of it.
Mother Weaver
In a new film commissioned by The Forgotten Her Story—a new platform that celebrates womanhood, craftsmanship and the handmade by telling the stories of extraordinary women, launched by Manuela Wirth—follow Ursula Hauser as she meets with Swiss artist Pipilotti Rist and her daughter Manuela to reflect on the artists and ideas that are central to her collection.
Directed by Lily Cole, this short film will launch alongside The Forgotten Her Story platform later this year and was produced on the occasion of the exhibition ‘The Mother & The Weaver’ at London’s Foundling Museum, exploring the complex role of the mother in art from the Ursula Hauser Collection.
‘The artist comes first. Always.’
Ursula Hauser
The Collection
In the 1980s, Ursula began quietly building what has become one of the world’s most impressive private collections of modern and contemporary art—acquiring works from visionary artists such as Louise Bourgeois, Carol Rama, Alina Szapocznikow, Franz West, and many others.
To define the works found in Ursula’s collection is a matter of identity, one that is fused to her personal trajectory—from her early years in eastern Switzerland, to becoming a mother, helming her father’s intrepid electronics business, and starting an art gallery with her daughter and son-in-law.
‘As a collector, I want to live with things that inspire and energize me, that give me pleasure. I want to have them around me. You can tell that a lot of the works in my collection have been made by women because of the vision and sensitivity in dealing with materials. And, of course, the subject matter.’
URSULA HAUSER
To understand Ursula’s collection is to know the collector and chart the course of late twentieth- and early twenty-first-century art. Below, discover a selection of exhibitions that have featured works from her collection.
ROMAN SIGNER
Donation from the Ursula Hauser Collection
Kunstmuseum St. Gallen, Switzerland
2023 – 2024
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‘It’s so great to look back to the beginning of Ursula’s collection, and I feel so honored to be part of that story. Ursula is such an important person in my life and a special patron in the art community.’
Richard Jackson
Collaborations
A committed cultural philanthropist, Ursula is dedicated to sharing her collection with the public and is an active lender to exhibitions worldwide. Through her dynamic engagement with artists, and her long-term support of their work through acquisitions, Ursula has created a collection which is a unique resource for scholars and art professionals.
Her ongoing support for the Kunstmuseum St. Gallen dates back to the late 1990s and includes notable donations of Roman Signer’s works in 2018 and 2022. Since 2021, the Ursula Hauser Collection has been collaborating with the Zurich University of the Arts (ZHdK) through the NEST program, empowering students to curate exhibitions with the collection.
Ursula’s support extends beyond the arts to various local organizations, including Pestalozzi Kinderdorf, Stiftung Unsere kleinen Brüder und Schwestern, Arche Zürich, Berghilfe, Wildpark, and initiatives helping children with hearing and visual impairments.
‘She’s the most noble person I’ve ever met. And when she enters the room, I calm down…totally.’
Pipilotti Rist
Unconscious Landscape
Inside her home and collection in Switzerland, Ursula reflects on the impulses behind her extraordinary art collection with her daughter Manuela Wirth. This film was produced on the occasion of the 2019 exhibition ‘Unconscious Landscape’ at our Somerset gallery.
The Inner Mirror
Available in English, German and French, ‘The Inner Mirror’ presents the first-ever extensive and intimate account of Ursula’s life and art collection through a series of conversations with the collector.
Excerpts from ‘Mother Weaver,’ dir. Lily Cole (2024). Courtesy Lily Cole and Park Pictures
Trailer for ‘Mother Weaver,’ dir. Lily Cole (2024). Courtesy Lily Cole and Park Pictures
Ursula Hauser, New York NY, 2015. Courtesy Archive Ursula Hauser
All personal photographs courtesy Archive Ursula Hauser
‘Ursula Hauser: Unconscious Landscape.‘ Photo: Katarina Lütsche
Installation view, ‘The Mother & The Weaver: Art from the Ursula Hauser Collection,’ Foundling Museum, London, UK, 2023 – 2024. Photo: Fernando Manoso
Selected Exhibitions (left to right): Installation view, ‘The Mother & The Weaver: Art from the Ursula Hauser Collection,’ Foundling Museum, London, UK, 2023 – 2024. Courtesy Ursula Hauser Collection. Photo: Fernando Manoso; Installation view, ‘Roman Signer. Donation from the Ursula Hauser Collection,’ Kunstmuseum St.Gallen, St.Gallen, Switzerland, 2023 – 2024 © Roman Signer. Courtesy Ursula Hauser Collection. Photo: Stefan Rohner; Installation view, ‘Unconscious Landscape. Works from the Ursula Hauser Collection,’ Hauser & Wirth Somerset, 2019; Installation view, ‘Body Doubles,’ Lokremise, Kunstmuseum St.Gallen, St.Gallen, Switzerland, 2017. Courtesy Ursula Hauser Collection; Installation view, ‘Paul McCarthy,’ Lokremise, Kunstmuseum St.Gallen, St.Gallen, Switzerland, 2016. Courtesy Ursula Hauser Collection; Installation view, ‘Phyllida Barlow. mix,’ Lokremise, Kunstmuseum St.Gallen, St.Gallen, Switzerland, 2015. Courtesy Ursula Hauser Collection; Installation view, ‘Human Capsules: Eight Female Artists from the Ursula Hauser Collection,’ Lokremise, Kunstmuseum St.Gallen, St.Gallen, Switzerland, 2012. Courtesy Ursula Hauser Collection; Installation view, ‘Jason Rhoades. My Madinah. in pursuit of my ermitage...,’ Lokremise, Hauser & Wirth Collection, St.Gallen, Switzerland, 2004. Courtesy Ursula Hauser Collection; Installation view, ‘Roman Signer,’ Lokremise, Hauser & Wirth Collection, St.Gallen, Switzerland, 2003. Courtesy Ursula Hauser Collection; Installation view, ‘The House of Fiction,’ Lokremise, Hauser & Wirth Collection, St.Gallen, Switzerland, 2002. Courtesy Ursula Hauser Collection. Photo: Stefan Rohner; Installation view, ‘Wechselstrom,’ Lokremise, Hauser & Wirth Collection, St.Gallen, Switzerland, 2001. Courtesy Ursula Hauser Collection; Installation view, ‘The Oldest Possible Memory,’ Lokremise, Hauser & Wirth Collection, St.Gallen, Switzerland, 2000. Courtesy Ursula Hauser Collection; Installation view, ’Paul McCarthy. Dimensions of the Mind: The Denial and the Desire in the Spectacle,’ Lokremise, Hauser & Wirth Collection, St.Gallen, Switzerland, 1999. Courtesy Ursula Hauser Collection
Ursula Hauser with Roman Signer. Courtesy Archive Ursula Hauser
Installation view, ‘Roman Signer. Donation from the Ursula Hauser Collection,’ Kunstmuseum St.Gallen, St.Gallen, Switzerland, 2023 – 2024 © Roman Signer. Courtesy Ursula Hauser Collection. Photo: Stefan Rohner
NEST (left to right): Installation view, ‘Pipilotti Rist,’ Zurich University of the Arts, Zurich, Switzerland, 2024. Photo: Jyrgen Ueberschär; Installation view, ‘Phyllida Barlow, Monika Sosnowska, Franz West,’ Zurich University of the Arts, Zurich, Switzerland, 2024. Photo: Jyrgen Ueberschär; Installation view, ‘Lee Lozano & Paul McCarthy,’ Zurich University of the Arts, Zurich, Switzerland, 2023. Photo: Paulo Wirz; Installation view, ‘Sonia Gomes, Anna Maria Maiolino, Solange Pessoa,’ Zurich University of the Arts, Zurich, Switzerland, 2022. Photo: Paulo Wirz; Installation view, ‘Hans Josephson & Loredana Sperini,’ Zurich University of the Arts, Zurich, Switzerland, 2022. Photo: Jasmine Gregory; Installation view, ‘Aggregating Matter: Of Dandelions and Architectures,’ Zurich University of the Arts, Zurich, Switzerland, 2022. Photo: Lorène Mohn; Installation view, ‘Sensing Out Loud: I Am the Last Woman Object,’ Zurich University of the Arts, Zurich, Switzerland, 2021. Photo: Jasmine Gregory; Installation view, ‘Animals We Are Ourselves,’ Zurich, Switzerland, 2021. Photo: Jasmine Gregory
Ursula Hauser with Phyllida Barlow. Courtesy Archive Ursula Hauser
Still from ‘Mother Weaver,’ dir. Lily Cole (2024). Courtesy Lily Cole and Park Pictures
Still from ‘Ursula Hauser: Unconscious Landscape‘ (2019)
‘The Inner Mirror: Conversations with Ursula Hauser, Art Collector’ (2019). Courtesy Hauser & Wirth Publishers