Contemporary Vietnam through the eyes of an art collector
VIEW EVENT DETAILSConversation, book launch and artwork presentation
In 1991, the Swiss art collector Paul Hugentobler arrived in Vietnam and was immediately impressed by the spirit of Hanoi and its lively art scene. Intrigued, he set to getting involved. His search led him to the door of one of Vietnam’s greatest art collectors, Pham Van Bong. Through him Paul Hugentobler discovered two of Vietnam’s most fascinating painters, Bui Xuan Phai and Nguyen Tu Nghiem. Unknown until late in their lives (a result of war and hardship), today both painters are renowned masters of Vietnamese art and are widely exhibited throughout South East Asia.
Presented here publically for the first time, Paul Hugentobler’s rare collection of paintings by these two spectacular artists provides a unique ‘behind the scenes’ view of Vietnam’s fascinating art world. The event will also celebrate the recent release of the book Two Vietnamese Modernists: Bui Xuan Phai and Nguyen Tu Nghiem – paintings from the Hugentobler Collection published by Offizin, Switzerland.
Join us at Hauser & Wirth for a vibrant evening of Vietnamese art and culture.
Program
6:30pm – Welcome drinks
6:45-7.15pm – Vietnam through an art collector’s eyes, a conversation between the collector Paul Hugentobler and Eunice Zehnder-Lai
7:15-7:30pm – Introduction of selected paintings by the curator Louise Malcolm
followed by drinks, Vietnamese bites & artwork presentation
This event is hosted in cooperation with the Hugentobler Collection.
Paul H Hugentobler is a former member of the Executive Committee of Holcim Ltd, and was responsible for the Group's expansion in South Asia and the ASEAN region from 2002 till 2014. He is currently serving as Executive Vice Chairman of the Board of Siam City Cement Ltd in Bangkok, Thailand, a company controlled by the Rataranak Group and Jardine Matheson from Hongkong, and he is supervising the company's expansion into the region with acquisitions and projects in Cambodia, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and most recently in Vietnam where Siam City Cement is buying out Holcim's majority stake in LafargeHolcim ( Vietnam ). Paul Hugentobler has been actively leading the expansion of Holcim's position in Vietnam from 1991 till 2014.
Eunice Zehnder-Lai is CEO of IPM, a people consulting firm that specializes in predicting human behavior. Previously, she worked in the finance industry for 20 years for LGT Capital Partners, Goldman Sachs and Merrill Lynch, spanning the areas of asset management, private wealth and corporate finance in New York, London, Hong Kong and Zurich. She also worked for Procter & Gamble in marketing as well as for Booz & Co. in strategy consulting.
Louise Malcolm is an art historian working on a research project at the Institute of Art History, University of Zurich and studying for her PhD at the same institution. She has published articles on art and philosophy and maintains a concurrent academic and curatorial focus on Asian art, particularly that of Southeast Asia and Vietnam.