Beatrix Ruf
{{short description|German art curator}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Beatrix Ruf
| image = BeatrixRuf2015.jpg
| alt =
| caption = Beatrix Ruf (2015)
| birth_name =
| birth_date = {{Birth year and age|1960}}
| birth_place = Singen, Germany
| death_date =
| death_place =
| nationality = German
| other_names =
| occupation = Museum director
| known_for =
}}
Beatrix Ruf (born 1960, Singen, Germany{{cite web|title=Artistic Director / Curators|url=http://www.yokohamatriennale.jp/2008/en/curator/|publisher=Yokohama Triennale 2008|access-date=26 October 2012}}) is a German art curator and art advisor who held the position of director of the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam between November 2014 and October 2017.{{Cite web|url = http://www.stedelijk.nl/en/news-items/Beatrix-Ruf-new-Director-Stedelijk-Museum-Amsterdam|title = Beatrix Ruf New Director Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam|date = 2014-04-08|access-date = 2014-04-08}}[https://www.nzz.ch/feuilleton/beatrix-ruf-verlaesst-das-stedelijk-museum-ld.1322379 Beatrix Ruf verlässt das Stedelijk Museum.] In: Neue Zürcher Zeitung, 17. Oktober 2017. (german) Formerly she was director of the Kunsthalle Zurich. She is associate editor for JRP-Ringier, works with the LUMA Foundation, the Garage Museum of Contemporary Art in Moscow,{{Cite web|url=https://www.theartnewspaper.com/news/beatrix-ruf-garage-moscow|title = Former Stedelijk director Beatrix Ruf will head to Moscow's Garage Museum| date=6 November 2019 }} and is the artistic director of the Ringier Collection. In 2012, she was listed in the top ten of the most influential people in the art world by ArtReview.
Early life and education
Ruf is the daughter of a land surveyor, later mayor of Singen, a small town near the Swiss border. She studied at a gymnasium and studied psychology, ethnology, art, and cultural sciences at the University of Zurich. After this, she went to the Conservatory of Vienna to study dancing.{{Cite journal|title = Interview with Ruf|last = Koelewijn|first = Jannetje|date = April 2015|journal = NRC Handelsblad Magazine Lux #23}} She became a choreographer and art critic and gave lessons in improvisation at the conservatory.
Career
Ruf started her career in art as curator of the Kunstmuseum Thurgau between 1994 and 1998.[http://www.kortarsgaleriak.hu/en/budapestcontemporary/102-beatrix-ruf-2013-marcius-.html Beatrix Ruf] Budapest Contemporary. She has been the artistic director of the Ringier Collection since 1995. In 1998 she was named as a member of the Art commission of Swiss Re.[http://www.prixpictet.com/nominators/ruf-beatrix/ Beatrix Ruf] Prix Pictet.
From 1998 until 2001, Ruf was the director of Kunsthaus Glarus. In 1999, she joined the board of the Schweizerische Graphische Gesellschaft (SGG).
=Kunsthalle Zürich, 2001–2014=
Ruf replaced Bernhard Bürgi in 2001 as director at Kunsthalle Zurich.{{cite web|last=Allen|first=Jennifer|title=Beatrix Ruf Arrives in Zurich|url=http://artforum.com/news/week=200135|work=Past Digests|publisher=Artforum|access-date=26 October 2012}} In 2012, she completed the acquisition, remodelling and extension of the Kunsthalle Zürich building at the Löwenbräu building in Zürich. That year, she also served on the jury for the Deutsche Börse Photography Prize and the Artissima Illy Present Future Prize.{{cite web|title=7. Beatrix Ruf|url=http://www.artreview100.com/people/782/|work=The Power 100|publisher=Art Review|access-date=26 October 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130622110558/http://www.artreview100.com/people/782/|archive-date=22 June 2013|url-status=dead}}
During her time in Zürich, Ruf served as a juror in commissions and curated numerous exhibitions, written essays and published catalogues on contemporary art. In 2006 she curated the Tate Triennial for Tate Britain, London. She also co-curated the 2008 Yokohama Triennale.
=Stedelijk Museum, 2014–2017=
In 2014 Ruf was appointed director of the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam. Her first purchase was the work Zwei Lampen by Isa Genzken (1948). The first exhibition in 2015 was by Tino Sehgal.
Ruf was a member of the juries that selected Magali Reus as 2015 recipient of the Prix de RomeAlex Greenberger (17 December 2015), [https://www.artnews.com/art-news/news/magali-reus-named-winner-of-the-2015-prix-de-rome-5554/ Magali Reus Named Winner of the 2015 Prix de Rome] ARTnews. and Helen Marten as 2016 recipient of the Turner Prize.Alex Greenberger (5 December 2016), [https://www.artnews.com/art-news/news/helen-marten-wins-the-2016-turner-prize-7432/ Helen Marten Wins the 2016 Turner Prize] ARTnews.
On October 17, 2017, Ruf resigned as director of the Stedelijk after reports in the Dutch news media detailed how, since 2014, she had been earning nearly a half million euros per year as a private art consultant, above and beyond the salary she received from the Stedelijk, and that she had also failed to report those activities and earnings.{{Cite news|url=https://www.nrc.nl/nieuws/2017/10/12/stedelijk-onderzoekt-nevenactiviteiten-directeur-13472490-a1577104|title=Stedelijk onderzoekt nevenactiviteiten directeur Beatrix Ruf|work=NRC|access-date=2017-10-17|language=nl}} Her art consultancy activities consisted, in part, of having the Stedelijk officially borrow her clients' artworks, whereby the Stedelijk's prestigious imprimatur would then cause those artworks to increase in value.{{Cite news|url=https://www.nrc.nl/nieuws/2017/10/14/kunstschandaal-13481113-a1577263|title=Kunstschandaal|work=NRC|access-date=2017-10-17|language=nl}} Several weeks beforehand, Dutch newspaper NRC Handelsblad also reported that Ruf had brokered a deal whereby the Stedelijk was to receive a gift of 600 artworks from the German art collector and dealer Thomas Borgmann; in fact, the actual gift consisted of 200 artworks, and was contingent upon the Stedeljk agreeing to purchase seven other artworks from Borgmann in exchange for €1.5 million. This transaction was initially absent from the Stedelijk's annual report, until the NRC Handelblad's publication of the details resulted in the museum later amending its annual report.{{Cite news|url=https://www.nrc.nl/nieuws/2017/10/06/gratis-kunst-die-stiekem-toch-15-miljoen-kost-13365402-a1576353|title=Gratis kunst die stiekem toch 1,5 miljoen kost|work=NRC|access-date=2017-10-17|language=nl}}
An independent investigation, commissioned by the city of Amsterdam, fully cleared Ruf in June 2018 from all allegations.New York Times: [https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/13/arts/design/beatrix-ruf-stedelijk-report.html Inquiry Clears Museum Director Who Quit in Conflict-of-Interest Storm.]Art Forum: [https://www.artforum.com/news/new-report-clears-former-stedelijk-director-beatrix-ruf-of-wrongdoing-75729 New Report clears Former Stedelijk Director Beatrix Ruf of Wrongdoing.]Süddeutsche: [https://www.sueddeutsche.de/kultur/kunst-sponsoren-und-maezene-bieten-eine-chance-1.4019487 Sponsoren und Mäzene bieten eine Chance.]
=Later career=
From 2019 to 2020, Ruf headed the international program of the Garage Museum of Contemporary Art in Moscow.[https://www.artforum.com/news/Former%20Stedelijk%20Museum%20Director%20Beatrix%20Ruf%20to%20Join%20Moscow%E2%80%99s%20Garage%20Museum-81232 Former Stedelijk Museum Director Beatrix Ruf to Join Moscow's Garage Museum] Artforum, 5 November 2019.
Since 2020, Ruf has been serving as director of the Hartwig Art Foundation in Amsterdam an organisation setting up a new museum of contemporary art in Amsterdam. In 2020 the Hartwig Art Foundation established the Hartwig Art Production | Collection Fund, acquiring works to be donated to the National Collection of the Netherlands.Gareth Harris (23 September 2020), [https://www.theartnewspaper.com/2020/09/23/what-beatrix-ruf-did-next-former-stedelijk-director-oversees-new-fund-that-will-donate-works-to-the-netherlands What Beatrix Ruf did next: former Stedelijk director oversees new fund that will donate works to the Netherlands] The Art Newspaper.Kabir Jhala (18 October 2022), [https://www.theartnewspaper.com/2022/10/18/dutch-foundation-plans-to-open-major-new-contemporary-art-museum-in-amsterdamwith-a-familiar-face-as-director Dutch foundation plans to open major new contemporary art museum in Amsterdam—with a familiar face as director] The Art Newspaper.
In 2022, Ruf partnered with the Stedelijk for a major exhibition of artist Anne Imhof, which she had helped curate when the show was initially intended to open at the Garage Museum.Kabir Jhala (30 September 2022), [https://www.theartnewspaper.com/2022/09/30/anne-imhof-exhibitionplanned-for-moscow-and-cancelled-due-to-war-in-ukraineopens-at-stedelijk-museum-in-amsterdam Immersive Anne Imhof exhibition—planned for Moscow and cancelled due to war in Ukraine—opens in Amsterdam] The Art Newspaper.
In 2023, Ruf curated the retrospective of Meredith Monk at Oude Kerk, Amsterdam. Patrick Langley (9 November 2023),[https://www.e-flux.com/criticism/574809/meredith-monk-s-calling Meredith Monk's “Calling”] e-flux Criticism.
In 2024, the [https://www.hartwigartfoundation.nl/ Hartwig Art Foundation] and Performa co-commissioned Julien Creuzet's [https://performa2023.org/algorithm-ocean-true-blood-moves/ Algorithm ocean true blood moves] which was presented in New York and at Studio Boekman of the Dutch National Opera.
Other activities
- Centre for Artistic Estates (ZKN), Member of the Advisory Board[https://zkn.ch/en/advisory-board/ Advisory Board] Centre for Artistic Estates (ZKN).
- Garage Journal, Member of the Advisory Board on Doing Research in Art Institutions[https://thegaragejournal.org/en/article/details-by-id?id=20 Advisory Board on Doing Research in Art Institutions] Garage Journal.
- Mondrian Initiative, Member of the Selection Committee[https://themondrianinitiative.org/en/organisatie/ Organization] Mondrian Initiative.
- Mumok, Member of the Board of Trustees[https://www.mumok.at/sites/default/files/cms/mumok_geschaeftsbericht_2014.pdf 2014 Annual Report] Mumok.
Recognition
References
{{reflist|2}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ruf, Beatrix}}
Category:Directors of museums in Switzerland
Category:German women museum directors
Category:German expatriates in the Netherlands