Hauser & Wirth Somerset 

Hauser & Wirth’s Somerset location is an actual English countryside dream. Located in Bruton, England, it’s a train ride away from London.

Fear not about the distance, you can easily spend an entire day at this beautiful estate. In addition to the exhibition spaces, there’s a sprawling garden filled with sculptures as well as the classic Roth Bar & Grill where you can grab a drink or a bite to eat. 

Of course it’s not just any bar & grill, the bar was created by Björn and Oddur Roth, the son, and grandson of artist Dieter Roth, and is a sight to behold. Not only is it interesting to look at, but the food is also farm-to-table, supplied by Durslade Farm in Bruton. Unfortunately (for us) there was a wedding going on the day we visited so we weren’t able to have dinner there. 

In the back of the property is the garden. Calling it a garden doesn’t even do it justice. The landscaping...designed by landscape architect Piet Oudolf, is beautiful on its own, but when you add in a few Franz West sculptures, it’s phenomenal. Roma Piotrowska does a great tour that makes you feel like you're there. See below.

Similarly is the Radić Pavilion, designed by Smiljan Radić, is an oasis overlooking the entire estate. I’m also pretty sure events are held in there...there is a bar...just saying. 

I couldn’t have picked a more perfect exhibition to see for my first time at Somerset -  ‘Unconscious Landscape. Works from the Ursula Hauser Collection’, was an exhibition focused entirely on female artists in Ursula’s collection.

It was also fascinating to learn about her story as a collector and how she founded this now, empire. The exhibit was curated by her daughter Manuela Wirth, as well as Laura Bechter who’s the curator of the Ursula Hauser Collection.

"Ursula Hauser has collected the work of female artists for the last forty years, long before equality in the visual arts became a talking point. She has always been drawn to work by visionary women, many of whom she has built long-standing relationships with" (source)

"‘Unconscious Landscape’ takes its title from Louise Bourgeois’ eponymous bronze sculpture (1967 – 68), which is included in the exhibition. The title alludes to how the collection has been formed; Ursula Hauser’s unconscious seeking out artists that she feels an affinity with, assembling works that she has a strong emotional draw to." (source) 

‘I step in front of the canvas naked, as it were. I have no set purpose, plan, model or photography. I let things happen. But I do have a starting-point, which has come from my realization that the only true reality are my feelings, played out within the confines of my body. They are physiological sensations: a feeling of pressure when I sit or lie down, feelings of tension and senses of spatial extent. These things are quite hard to depict.’ - Maria Lassnig about her artistic process

Please watch this video - it says more than words ever could. This exact video was playing at the beginning of the exhibit so you could really appreciate the collection as you walked around the 5 gallery spaces. 

It’s such an incredible story about how this woman - Ursula Hauser, who came from very simple means (her mother was a dressmaker) was drawn to art and started collecting from the individuals who were doing things she identified with as an individual, and these individuals just happened to be some of the most famous female artists in contemporary art history. Think - Eva Hesse, Maria Lassnig, Louise Bourgeois...and so many more.

"Sylvia Sleigh’s portraits of women rejected traditional notions of the male gaze and female idealisation, resulting in a body of work that is poignantly contemporary." 

"An entire room in the exhibition is dedicated to the realist paintings of Sylvia Sleigh, with whom Ursula Hauser built a strong bond during her visits to New York, where the British artist was based from the early 1960s." (source) 

"Following Sleigh’s death in 2010, Ursula Hauser bought the house she had so often visited, preserving Sleigh’s legacy by installing her paintings and restoring many of her original features, including the mirror in which Sleigh is painting in ‘Working at Home’ (1969). Motifs of domesticity are common and can be seen in the patterned wallpaper and fabrics, house plants and furniture." (source) 

Such an amazing day visiting this incredible gallery space and learning about the powerhouse that is Ursula Hauser.