Gustav Zumsteg (11 October 1915 – 17 June 2005) was a Swiss art collector, silk merchant and restaurateur. He was the owner of the restaurant Kronenhalle in Zürich. ^[1]

Early life

Gustav Zumsteg was born in Zürich to Hulda Zumsteg, owner of the Kronenhalle restaurant. ^[2] He had an older sister, Hedi. His father died when Gustav was eight weeks old.

Professional life

Silk trading house Ludwig Abraham & Co

In 1931 he joined as an apprentice at the silk trading house Ludwig Abraham & Co - a business founded in 1863 under the name Königsberger, Rüdenberg & Co. ^[3] in Krefeld, Germany, ^[4] and that moved to Zürich where Jakob Abraham became a partner in 1878. ^[3]

From 1936, Zumsteg lived in Paris, where he met the artists and couturiers personally. He also managed Abraham's Paris subsidiary from 1941 on, became the chief designer and in 1943 a partner in the company. ^[5] In 1957 he met Yves Saint Laurent, whose collections were henceforth influenced by Zumsteg's designs and Abraham's fabrics. ^[2]

In 1968, after the resignation of Ludwig Abraham, Zumsteg became the sole proprietor and director of the silk company. ^[4] He mainly focused on textiles for haute couture and began Abraham's collaboration with well known Parisian fashion houses ^[6] — not just with Cristóbal Balenciaga ^[7] but also Christian Dior, Hubert de Givenchy, Coco Chanel, and Emanuel Ungaro. ^[4] Abraham's Ltd will become one of the major suppliers of fabrics to the house of Saint Laurent. ^[8]

However, the company itself did not manufacture the silk fabrics. ^[9] The production was outsourced to manufactories in France and Italy who implemented the work of Paris and Lyon based design teams led by Zumsteg. ^[10]

From 1970s on, the market for Haute Couture has gradually vanished due to the global end-of-an-era changes with cheaper silk prints from Asia and the rising mass market with easier to care for fabrics that did not need tailoring. ^[9] With the design of prints for the high end of the ready-to-wear market, Zumsteg adjusted the business to the new situation. ^[11]

By the 1990s, the silk company was operating at a loss, even after Zumsteg's injections from his personal fortune. ^[9] After the 40-year collaboration with Abraham's longest client Yves Saint Laurent ^[4] came to an end in 1995 ^[11] and no successor to Zumsteg was found, Abraham's Ltd. ceased operations in 2002. ^[4]

Restaurant "Kronenhalle" and art collecting

After the death of his mother, Hulda Zumsteg, in 1957, he took over the management of the restaurant Kronenhalle. ^[12]

As an art collector until his death in 2005, he ensured that guests could dine in his Zürich restaurant surrounded by the works of world-famous artists -among others Joan Miró, Marc Chagall, Pierre Bonnard, Georges Braque, Alberto Giacometti and Jean Tinguely. ^[1]

References

Further reading

• Christie; Manson & Woods (London) (April 1976), Seven Pictures from the Zumsteg Collection (Picasso - Monet - Kandinsky - Leger - Matisse - Braque). Illustrated Catalogue. von Collezione Zumsteg)., Libreria Oreste Gozzini snc