The local grande dame reflects on over 50 years of Art Basel memories

Basel collector Ulla Dreyfus-Best is the life of the party

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Walking into collector Ulla Dreyfus-Best's home in Basel is to be immersed in a stimulating wunderkammer&nbsp;of artworks and memories, and meeting her is to come face-to-face with a major driving forces behind the city’s art scene. With her characteristic outspokenness, Dreyfus-Best&nbsp;– whose collection has been exhibited at institutions like the Peggy Guggenheim Collection in Venice and the Kunstmuseum Basel – reflects on her many&nbsp;Art Basel experiences.
Clément Dirié: If I’m not mistaken, you've attended all the shows since it was founded in 1970.
Ulla Dreyfus-Best: That’s right. I haven’t missed a single Art Basel since the very beginning. I have also been to all the editions of&nbsp;Art Basel in Miami Beach since 2002. The only fair I haven’t been to is Art Basel in Hong Kong. The early years of Art Basel were so easy, collegiate, enjoyable, and friendly. I remember many dealers asked to use my large car to carry artworks and other things from their spaces to the show. I can proudly say I was one of the people behind the organization of the first fair – I was&nbsp;literally involved with the logistical details!

CD: What were you doing in 1970?
UDB: Funnily enough, my husband Richard and I had just moved into this house, so in a way, this place reflects 50 years of collecting since the inception of Art Basel. The fair&nbsp;has been a way to welcome friends and gallerists in our hometown. I also must say that we have not only collected modern and contemporary art: Our taste is eclectic and spans from the Old Masters to Mannerism, Symbolism, and Surrealism, from Middle Age artifacts to French Art Deco.
CD: What do you remember from the first editions of Art Basel?

UDB: Being from Basel, I knew the three founders – Trudl Bruckner, Ernst Beyeler, and Balz Hilt – quite well. They were all very different. Trudl was the one who really initiated the fair. She had a small gallery, but so much energy and know-how. She was mainly involved with Swiss artists, who she was so passionate about. There is no need to say much about Ernst – there are plenty of books about what he has achieved. Balz was also a&nbsp;‘local’ gallerist, but equally passionate and really visionary. He was interested very early on in non-art objects, ethnological artifacts – I was not as close to him as I was to the other two. But it’s important to underline that during the 1970s, Balz was the one who made Art Basel more international. He knew the key American dealers who were only active in New York at that time, and he was at the center of an important network of galleries working together. I first met the legendary American dealers Leo Castelli and Ileana Sonnabend as well as Sidney Janis at Art Basel. It was crucial to bring the American dealers to Basel because they in turn brought the American collectors.

CD: Could you talk about the art ecosystem in Basel?UDB: Basel has created an absolutely exceptional environment for the arts, and the city has a unique history. The Kunstmuseum Basel was in fact the first public museum in the world; the Amerbach Cabinet was purchased in 1661 and opened in 1671&nbsp;thanks to the Basel bourgeoisie. Since the Middle Ages, Basel has been a city in flux at the crossroads of Northern and Southern Europe, directly between France and Eastern Europe. The Rhine was also always a great axis for the circulation of goods, people, and thoughts. And don’t forget about the philosopher Desiderius Erasmus from Rotterdam who lived in Basel for many years – Christian Humanism was almost born in Basel. I feel this city was a fertile ground for the arts; it is in its DNA and today Basel is still a melting pot.CD: Can you recount some anecdotes from Art Basel in the 1970s?UDB: I have one very vivid memory: In the 1970s, Ernst Beyeler used to organize a very private dinner on Saturday evenings during the show at Schloss Bottmingen. He would invite the exhibiting gallerists, some friends, and some artists – only a dozen Basel people. I went on a few occasions and one time the Shahbanu Farah Diba and a representative of the Shah came. It was sensational.&nbsp;They had incredible, almost infinite, means and they were building the fantastic collection of the now-legendary Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art. They went on to buy works by&nbsp;<a href="https://www.artbasel.com/catalog/artist/7555/Mark-Rothko" target="_blank">Rothko</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.artbasel.com/catalog/artist/6751/Andy-Warhol" target="_blank">Warhol</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.artbasel.com/catalog/artist/6740/Roy-Lichtenstein" target="_blank">Lichtenstein</a>, etc. Art Basel in the 1970s was really full of these kinds of encounters.

CD: I’ve heard you've also had some funny encounters in your home. I’m specifically thinking about&nbsp;<a href="https://www.artbasel.com/catalog/artist/6944/Jeff-Koons" target="_blank">Jeff Koons</a>&hellip;UDB: Indeed! Every year since 2002 I have hosted a party on the Saturday evening of the fair – the night after the traditional Beyeler cocktail reception – to honor one artist and I always try to have a big surprise in store. The first year it was Jeff Koons; we were already friends at the time and he was in town thanks to an invitation from Stefan Bachmann at Theater Basel, where the play Jeff Koons, about Jeff’s life, was running. For the party, I had two performers from the play dress up like the bears from his very famous sculpture Winter Bears&nbsp;[1988]. When Jeff saw the&nbsp;‘bears’&nbsp;coming out of the forest toward the party, with spotlights shining on them, he couldn’t believe it. He was on the lawn crying. A number of years later, in 2007, we inaugurated his Wrecking Ball&nbsp;[2003] on my staircase. Sam Keller, then the director of Art Basel, agreed to do the inauguration. I have this nice picture with him, Maja Hoffmann, and Keller's three successors: Marc Spiegler, Cay Sophie Rabinowitz, and Annette Schönholzer.Since then I have hosted parties and dinners in honor of&nbsp;<a href="https://www.artbasel.com/catalog/artist/6768/Gilbert-George" target="_blank">Gilbert &amp; George</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.artbasel.com/catalog/artist/8610/Philippe-Parreno" target="_blank">Philippe Parreno</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.artbasel.com/catalog/artist/6940/Tracey-Emin" target="_blank">Tracey Emin</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.artbasel.com/catalog/artist/6748/James-Rosenquist" target="_blank">James Rosenquist</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.artbasel.com/catalog/artist/8508/Doug-Aitken" target="_blank">Doug Aitken</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.artbasel.com/catalog/artist/8473/Sarah-Morris" target="_blank">Sarah Morris</a>, and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.artbasel.com/catalog/artist/9868/Theaster-Gates" target="_blank">Theaster Gates</a>, among others.

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