Bruno Bischofberger, Art Dealer of Stars Like Andy Warhol and Jean-Michel Basquiat, Dies at 86
Swiss art dealer Bruno Bischofberger, founder of the Zurich-based Galerie Bruno Bischofberger (established 1963), has died at age 86, the gallery announced on Saturday. Bischofberger helped introduce major American artists to Europe and was known for running a back-page advertisement in every issue of Artforum since the mid-1980s. He developed a close, influential relationship with Andy Warhol after meeting him in New York in 1966, buying 11 of 20 early Warhol paintings in 1968 for what he called “a very high price,” and securing a right of first refusal that lasted until Warhol’s death in 1987. Bischofberger also took a 25% stake in Warhol’s Interview magazine in 1969, produced Warhol’s 1970 film L’amour, and in 1984 proposed the Warhol–Jean-Michel Basquiat collaborations later highlighted in a 2023 Fondation Louis Vuitton exhibition in Paris.
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This story was covered in Venice Revolts, Art World Loses a Kingmaker