By Jeremy Murphy
Helmed by third-generation gallerist Isabelle Bscher, Zurich-based Galerie Gmurzynska continues to blend personal instinct with global strategy. Though Galerie Gmurzynska is headquartered in Zurich and deeply rooted in European modernism, its footprint in the U.S. is expanding. After opening a location on New York’s Upper East Side in 2018, the gallery is preparing to mark its 60th anniversary with the unveiling of a new space in Manhattan this fall.
“We’re so excited to open a new space in New York,” Bscher said. “We’re having a big party in September. It’s a celebration of 60 years of history.” The new space will also debut a collaboration with minimalist fashion icon Jil Sander, who designed the gallery’s library. “She’s been known for her collecting and of course for her design work,” Bscher said. “I feel like everyone still copies her—she really pioneered minimal chic.”
A Family Business
Gmurzynska was founded by Bscher’s grandmother in Cologne in 1965 and has remained in the family. “As far as I know, it’s the only gallery with three generations of women—my grandmother, my mother, and me. We all still work closely together,” Bscher said. As for navigating the business alongside her mother? “Oh, we argue all the time,” she laughed. “Like Dickens said—it’s the best of times, it’s the worst of times. But she’s got a very strong personality too.”
Growing up surrounded by art, Bscher always knew she would carry the gallery’s legacy forward. “When I was a kid, the gallery in Cologne was next door to our house. I used to go there after school,” she said. “I think I took my first steps at an art fair—either Basel or FIAC. Even my school class came to see a Yves Klein show once. They all thought it was scandalous.”
Personal Taste
While the gallery’s foundation was built on early 20th-century artists like Kandinsky, Miró, and Picasso, it has expanded over the years to embrace postwar and contemporary figures. “We’ve worked with artists like Botero, Christo, and Robert Indiana,” Bscher said. “When you build those relationships over time, the art becomes personal. You see it through their eyes.”
Her own taste leans toward drawings and watercolors, but her curatorial vision encompasses a wide range. “I’m drawn to so many different things,” she said. “Especially when you work closely with an artist—you develop a bond, and their work becomes more personal.”
Strategic Look at Trends in American Collecting
As the Aspen Art Fair returned to the historic Hotel Jerome this summer, few booths reflected the intersection of heritage and modernity as vividly as Galerie Gmurzynska. Its show, “An American Generation: Basen, Indiana, Strider, and Wesselmann,” was a curated glimpse into the various offshoots of the 1960s and ’70s American art scene. “It’s such an exciting week to be in Aspen,” said Bscher. “There’s ArtCrush, there’s the museum, and so many collectors are here. It was a wonderful fair for us.”
The gallery’s offerings included standout pieces such as Robert Indiana’s Four (1964), Louise Nevelson’s Royal Winds (1960–1961), and Marjorie Strider’s Untitled (Leopard Triptych) (2010), alongside works by Tom Wesselmann, Ronnie Cutrone, and Will Cotton. The selection highlights Galerie Gmurzynska’s growing focus on postwar and contemporary American artists—a shift that has evolved organically through generations. Bscher will bring the same artists back to her gallery in the Fuller Building at 595 Madison Avenue this September.
Long-Standing Relationships
The Aspen presentation was particularly meaningful for the gallery, both as a celebration of its long-standing relationships with iconic artists and as a strategic look at trends in American collecting. “We’re having great success with Marjorie Strider, a female pop artist whose work is now being recognized by major institutions like the Louis Vuitton Foundation,” Bscher said. “We also brought Robert Indiana and Nevelson—artists we’ve worked with for a long time. And we also had a fantastic Kandinsky, as well as a work by Alfredo Lam, whose retrospective is coming to MoMA this November.”
When asked about American collectors, Bscher emphasized the diversity of motivations: “You get emotional buyers, you get investment-driven buyers, and then some want to make a political statement through art. It’s a very personal thing.”
That personal connection is one reason Galerie Gmurzynska continues to thrive in Aspen. “We met people from all over the world there—last year, a buyer came from Singapore, and another from Indiana,” she said. “When someone approaches you at the fair, it’s often because they’ve had an emotional reaction to the work hanging on the wall. And from there, a conversation starts.”
Galerie Gmurzynska
