Frank Nievergelt – Collectors’ Island

June 12, 2018 12:13 pm

Frank Nievergelt is obsessed with contemporary ceramic artwork. Over the course of his travels to the ateliers of artists, visits that continue to allow him to weave enduring friendships, Frank Nievergelt progressively expands his collection, bringing home new pieces in his luggage that will soon find their place in the barn of the large farm in Ramsen, not far from Lake Constance, where he lives with his wife. Starting with two small Chapallaz vases, Nievergelt assigns each work a specific number and carefully writes up a detailed factsheet. An inexhaustible source of information on this unique collection, our cultivated aesthete clearly has the memory of an elephant, one that has already left its mark here in Switzerland and elsewhere, in unforgettable exhibitions and numerous books. (Source: Catherine Delaby)

Each year the Genevan watchmaker Vacheron Costantin releases an art book titled Collectors’ Island, this year I photographed the entire book and this is one of eight stories included.

Many thanks to Bradley Seymour at Studio Sibling for the invaluable creative direction, and to Lara LoCalzo for her exceptional work as Editorial Manager. Several image captions were written by Catherine Delaby.

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Frank is ever captivated by the blossoming forms of a thrown stoneware vase by Lucie Rie and other vessels by Ursula Scheid (1932--2008).

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Halfway between a fossil and a geological structure, the massive amphora Pedra del si (1999) by Claudi Casanovas in stoneware and sand. Height: 79.5 cm.

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Frank holds Ladle (2006), slipcast ware colored an almost electric blue by Steven Heinemann. Length: 72.5 cm.

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Frank donated over 200 pieces of his collection to Musée Ariana in Geneva.

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The top shelf consists of small-scale monumental sculptures by Enric Mestre. The bottom shelf if filled with thrown or assembled stoneware vessels with natural enamel by Uwe Löllmann.

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Frank with a number of pieces from his collection, including a fantastic Müller auf Pferd (1976) by Jakob Stucki (1920-1982) and a thrown stoneware vase (1988) by Volker Ellwanger.

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