Christian Herren


Christian Herren (1992) is an interdisciplinary creative director, art consultant and researcher. Through his cultural agency, he has been realising projects in the fields of art, culture and management for more than fifteen years. He is currently based in Paris and Bern

As creative director, Christian Herren has designed numerous exhibitions with and for artists such as Sophie Calle, Ragnar Kjartansson and Roman Signer, and has developed and designed publications in collaboration with partners which have been published by VEXER (Berlin) and Scheidegger & Spiess (Zurich), among others. In a consulting capacity, Christian Herren has worked on the brand identity and communication measures of members of The Leading Hotels of the World, GlaxoSmithKline and Mammut, and has developed projects for Jeu de Paume, the International Yehudi Menuhin Foundation, the Red Cross and the Swiss Parliament, to name a few.

In the field of art consulting, Christian Herren's experience covers a broad spectrum of both old and new art. Herren provides advice in the areas of buying, selling, collecting, preserving, brokering, donating and bequeathing art. He has compiled inventories of important private collections for auction houses, galleries and private clients, including the estate collection of Valerie and Othmar Häuptli.

In the research project "Abstraction Before the Age of Abstract Art", Herren is affiliated as an art researcher with Case Western Reserve University (Cleveland) and l'École des hautes Études en sciences sociale (Paris). The results of Herren's research have been shown in exhibitions such as "Dürer and Beyond" at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. Herren has written work descriptions for the collection at Kunsthaus Aarau, and has organised and moderated a range of lectures, including "The Role of the Curator in Modern Art" with Hans Ulrich Obrist.

Curriculum Vitae

2020 - today: Art consultancy
Member of the Board of Trustees and co-curator of the Teo Jakob Art Collection Foundation.

2020 - today: Creative direction
Development and implementation of tailor-made art tours in Paris, including one with Holland Bikes.

2019 - today: Research & writing
Associate Researcher at École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales (Paris) and Case Western (Cleveland) on the project "Abstraction Before the Age of Abstract Art."

2017 - today: Research & writing
Writing artwork descriptions for the "Sammlung Online" catalogue of the Aargauer Kunsthaus, Aarau.

2014 - today: Creative direction, art consultancy, research & writing
Independent agency work as creative director, art consultant and researcher. Creative direction projects with GlaxoSmithKline and the Swiss Red Cross, among others. Consulting work for members of The Leading Hotels of the World and Switzerland Tourism. Organization of numerous exhibitions, among others under the label "ELETTO", together with Kevin Muster, Arthur Fink, Roman Sterchi and Melina Bärtschi. Art consultancy projects in the field of collection management and valuation (including provenance research and insurance appraisals), international market placement of important works by Käthe Kollwitz and Wilhelm Lehmbruck, revaluation of the largest private collection of Charles Lapicque.

2021 - 2022: Creative direction
Development and implementation of art and flower installations in the entrance hall of the Jeu de Paume Museum, Paris, in collaboration with the Librairie du Jeu de Paume and DSQBL.

2020 - 2022: Art consultancy
Management of the private estate of Othmar and Valérie Häuptli, Aarau, with a focus on key works of classical modernism (cataloguing and provenance research).

2018 - 2020: Education
Master's degree in Design and Fine Arts at the Gerrit Rietveld Academy, Amsterdam.

2017 - 2018: Research & writing
Teaching at the schools of Münchenbuchsee and Münsingen (phil. I linguistic/historical).

2018: Creative direction
Conception, organisation and implementation of the international MUS-E conference, in collaboration with the International Yehudi Menuhin Foundation (Brussels) and Erasmus+ (Bonn).

2017: Research & writing
Research-related visits to Lomé (Togo, West Africa) and DaLi (Yunnan, South China).

2014 - 2017: Art consultancy
Processing of the artists' estates of Rudolf Urech-Seon, Rudolf Häsler and Urs Burki, including the conception and realisation of artist's monographs (published by Scheidegger & Spiess, Zurich and VEXER, Berlin/St. Gallen respectively).

2014 - 2017: Creative direction
Conception, realisation, production and editing of the experimental documentary film "Coca-Castro", Havana, Barcelona and Bern.

2014 - 2016: Creative direction
Co-founder, executive and director of the Swiss Brand Museum pop-up project, in collaboration with Presence Switzerland (Federal Department of Foreign Affairs FDFA), Bern.

2010 - 2013: Creative direction, art consultancy
Founding director of a private museum with associated gallery, now Blue Velvet Projects, Zurich. Exhibitions with Ragnar Kjartansson, Francis Alÿs and Roman Signer, among others.

2011: Research & writing
Organisation of panel discussions with H.U. Obrist and Post Media Books, Milan.

2010 - 2012: Education
Studied art history and philosophy at the Universities of Basel and Bern.

2006: Research & writing
Processing of the private estate of Hans Rohr (cataloguing, provenance research, appraisals). Some of the research has been featured in the Metropolitan Museum, New York.

2006 - 2010: Education
Training as senior specialist in the artists' prints and books department (modern and contemporary art) at the auction house Galerie Jürg Stuker AG, Bern.

Recent project:

Recent project: