Manuela Wirth

Manuela Wirth is one half of the most powerful commercial art galleries in the world today, Hauser & Wirth. Founded in 1992 in Zurich, Switzerland, it now also has spaces in London, New York, Los Angeles and Somerset. The latter takes the form of a renovated 18th century farmhouse, set on an 800-acre estate on the outskirts of the village Bruton. Manuela understands the restorative power of the great outdoors; she spent her childhood hiking and swimming across the canton of St Gallen in eastern Switzerland, where she originally trained as a schoolteacher. She met her husband Iwan Wirth when he sold a painting to her mother Ursula, a lifelong collector of works by female artists. Not content with conquering the art world, the Wirths are opening a 48-room hotel in Braemar, Scotland, in Winter 2018, and also have their sights set on mastering viniculture: they recently planted a vineyard in England’s verdant West Country and hope to produce 10,000 bottles of wine each year by 2019.