Bruno Bischofberger

Bruno Bischofberger (* 1940 in Zurich) is a Swiss art dealer, gallerist and collector.

Bischofberger was born in 1940 in Zurich. He studied art history, archaeology and ethnography (folk art) at the University of Zurich, with further studies at the universities of Bonn and Munich. Bischofberger has three daughters and a son and lives near Zurich with his wife Christina, known as Yoyo, in a house designed by Ettore Sottsass overlooking Lake Zurich.

Bischofberger is especially well known for his close association with Andy Warhol and Jean-Michel Basquiat. He encountered Warhol for the first time in New York in 1966. During a subsequent meeting in 1968, Warhol showed him a number of early unpublished works. Bischofberger was able to select eleven very significant works, including some hand-painted early pieces such as Superman, Batman, a coloured Coca-Colapainting and several large, often double-panelled Disaster paintings and early portraits dating from 1961 to 1963. Warhol granted Bischofberger the right of first refusal on any future art works, a commitment that endured until Warhol’s death in 1987. Bischofberger travelled several times a year to New York City. In 1970, Warhol painted a portrait of Bischofberger. The latter subsequently proposed a pricing scheme for commissioned portraits with standardized dimensions for clients of the gallery, which would become Warhol’s main source of income over the next few years. Bischofberger came across Basquiat’s work for the first time in 1981 and one year later became his main art dealer worldwide until the artist’s death in 1988. In addition, Bischofberger was responsible for introducing Warhol and Basquiat and later encouraging their collaborations with Francesco Clemente.

Warhol and Basquiat continued to collaborate, with the younger artist persuading Warhol to paint by hand again after having worked exclusively with silk screens for 23 years. Bischofberger had the idea for the artistic collaborations after Basquiat made several drawings together with Bischofberger’s then three-year-old daughter Cora on a visit to Switzerland. In 1969, Bischofberger founded Interview Magazine together with Warhol. In Julian Schnabel’s 1996 film Basquiat, Bruno Bischofberger was played by Dennis Hopper.

• “Andy Warhol’s Visual Memory” in: Bruno Bischofberger, Andy Warhol's Visual Memory, Edition Galerie Bruno Bischofberger, Zurich, 2001, pp. 9ff.; (in German) Carl Haenlein (ed.), Andy Warhol Fotografien 1976–1987, Kestnergesellschaft, Hannover, 2001, pp. 13ff.
• “A Brief History of My Relationship with Andy Warhol”, in: (expanded version for foreword) Bruno Bischofberger, Andy Warhol’s Visual Memory, Edition, Galerie Bruno Bischofberger, Zurich, 2001, pp. 6–7; Magnus Bischofberger, Prehistory to the Future: Highlights from the Bischofberger Collection, Electa, Milan, 2008, pp. 258–259
• “Collaborations: Reflections on the Experiences with Basquiat, Clemente and Warhol”, in: (edited version) Magnus Bischofberger, Prehistory to the Future: Highlights from the Bischofberger Collection, Electa, Milan, 2008, pp. 262ff.; (unedited version) Tilman Osterwold (ed.), Collaborations: Warhol, Basquiat Clemente, Cantz, Ostfildern-Ruit, 1996, pp. 39ff.