Art Basel in the 1970s: the Role of the Female Gallerists. Rewriting a History

Abstract

This research aims to highlight the fundamental role of women gallerists within the Art Basel fair, from 1970 to 1979. This is a crucial historical period for the birth of contemporary art fairs and the art system as we know it today.  

The essay unfolds through two macro-sections: the first aims to create a historical framework and concerns a review of the literature that dealt with women within the art world in the 1970s by addressing authors such as Nocklin, Mainardi, Pollock and Lea Vergine, while rediscovering rarely known articles such as "We are Feminists", a dialog conducted by Gerhild Grolitsch with Gislind Nabakowsk in 1976. Next, it shifts to the research of the last years about these topics in the Art Market Studies, showing how most of the articles are about statistical analyses on women artists and that they have been carried out either by cultural economists or sociologists, and not by Visual Studies or art history researchers. In addition, in most cases these analyses have been conducted by female scholars.  

The second section attempts to shed light to the role of women gallerists in the 1970s at Art Basel, arguing that their contribution has gone undervalued. There are three gallerists who participated in all the editions of the 1970s, and who not only exhibited their artists but also took leadership roles. These early pioneers not only made pivotal contributions to Art, the original name of what is currently known as Art Basel, but were also responsible for its schedule, development and some important exhibitions. They are Trudl Bruckner (Riehentor Gallery) from Switzerland, Annely Juda from Great Britain, originally from Germany, and Denise René from France, who imposed themselves in a predominantly male-dominated business.  

The artistic choices within their booths will thus be presented, as well as their collaboration in national exhibitions that occurred within the fair, such as: the British Exhibition of 1975 and the French Exhibition of 1978. However, an analysis of the rosters showed that there was no distinctiveness of female choices and, indeed, they were almost nonexistent, probably also reflecting the difficulties of the emergence of female artists over the years.  

These names not only come across as foundational, but also can be considered as a litmus test of the fair's predominantly Eurocentric beginning. In addition to them, other gallerists will also be included in this narration.