The Collection of Prints and Drawings is to have a new head
Farewell after 24 years: Paul Tanner, head of the Collection of Prints and Drawings at ETH Zurich, is retiring. His successor, Linda Schädler, will take over the position on 1 May.
Paul Tanner has been Chief Curator of the Collection of Prints and Drawings at ETH Zurich for nearly a quarter of a century. Now the 65-year-old art historian has decided it’s time to retire. “I have always been guided by the four pillars of art collection,” he says as he looks back over his career: “Collect, preserve, research and communicate.” It was important for him to focus on specific areas: “We don’t take one piece from here and another from there – we collect whole groups of works by particular artists.”
Today, the Collection of Prints and Drawings comprises around 160,000 items, making it the largest collection of its kind in Switzerland. For Tanner, the Collection’s exhibitions stand out as high points in his career. He particularly enjoyed the themed exhibitions, which displayed works by different artists on a common theme and which were especially popular with the public as well.
The end of April marks the start of a new phase of Tanner’s life. He is optimistic about it: “I’m looking forward to spending time on other things.” But art will always be part of his life: “I will still be visiting exhibitions and I hope to organise one or two more myself.”
Closer links with research and teaching
Paul Tanner’s successor, Linda Schädler, will take over the position on 1 May, 2016. She was a research assistant at the Institute of Art History at the University of Zurich until recently, and previously a post-doctoral researcher working under the Chair for the History of Art and Architecture at ETH Zurich. She also worked at the Kunstmuseum Basel and Kunsthaus Zurich.
“I am delighted to be taking over the management of the Collection of Prints and Drawings at ETH Zurich,” says Schädler. “This is a place where my experience gained in museums and universities comes together perfectly. My goal is to work together with my colleagues to form even closer links between this first-class collection and research and teaching at ETH Zurich, and to position the Collection of Prints and Drawings as an independent and important institution.”