Thomas Ammann

Thomas E. Ammann (1950–1993) was a leading Swiss art dealer in Impressionist and Twentieth Century Art and major collector of Post-war and Contemporary Art.

Born 1950 in Ermatingen, Switzerland, as the youngest of four children (Eveline, Doris, Susan), Ammann became an art collector while still a teen-ager. Aged 18 he went to work at Galerie Bruno Bischofberger in Zurich. It was during this time of apprenticeship that Ammann first met Andy Warhol who would become a close friend. In 1977 Ammann went into business for himself. His unique combination of knowledge, eye for quality, charm, humor, looks and absolute discretion catapulted him to the top of the art world by his mid 30's (Skis with Valentino, dines with Audrey Hepburn and Elizabeth Taylor ... lives on the Concorde. He was named to the International Best Dressed List Hall of Fame in 1988.

Thomas Ammann died 9 June 1993, aged 43 - a memorial service for friends and family was held in his honour at The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York City, 18 November 1993 with speakers Patricia Phelps de Cisneros, Thomas Krens, William H. Luers, Ernst Beyeler, Robert Wilson (director), Bob Colacello, Bianca Jagger and artists Ross Bleckner, Francesco Clemente and Eric Fischl.

In 1977 Ammann established his own gallery, Thomas Ammann Fine Art which was soon to be visited by major collectors throughout Europe and the Americas. Its patrons included Giovanni Agnelli, Gustavo Cisneros, David Geffen, Ronald Lauder, Dinos Martinos, Samuel Newhouse Jr, Stavros Niarchos, Ronald Perelman, Yves Saint Laurent and Baron Hans Heinrich Thyssen-Bornemisza amongst others. From his villa by Otto Rudolf Salvisberg on the hill of Zurich, his chalet in Gstaad or his apartment at the Pierre in New York, Thomas Ammann dealt mainly in major paintings and sculpture of twentieth century masters such as Francis Bacon, Balthus, Max Beckmann, Constantin Brâncuși, Georges Braque, Alexander Calder, Alberto Giacometti, Wassily Kandinsky, Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Paul Klee, Willem de Kooning, Fernand Léger, Henri Matisse, Joan Miró, Barnett Newman, Pablo Picasso and Mark Rothko.

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