Harald Szeemann belongs to the record of art as a figure whose work outlasted the taste that first received it.
The record lists Harald Szeemann as Swiss artist, curator and art historian (1933–2005).
Harald Szeemann was born at Bern in 1933. His recorded nationality is Switzerland. He trained at University of Bern.
Twentieth-century art was international, heavily theorised and increasingly conceptual, with the market growing alongside it.
He worked as art historian, exhibition curator and art critic.
Art history is a record of what got kept, which is not the same as what was best.
Recognition followed: Max Beckmann prize (2001).
That the work was made in Switzerland shaped it: artistic traditions, academies and the galleries that decide what is seen have never been evenly distributed.
Harald Szeemann died in 2005, aged 72. The work remains, hanging in collections that outlived both the artist and the market that first priced it.
Achievements
- Max Beckmann prize — 2001
