13 September 2017 – Sotheby’s is delighted to announce its very first selling exhibition at 2, rue François-Diday, Geneva: Photographs by Richard de Tscharner. The gallery show will feature 22 works by the Swiss-born photographer, and proceeds from the sale will be donated to the Carène Foundation, a charitable organisation which promotes education and the preservation of cultural traditions. The exhibition will be open to the public from Monday to Friday from the 15th to the 25th of September 2017.

Richard de Tscharner
Born in Bern in 1947, Richard de Tscharner developed a passion for photography at a very young age. He learnt the basics during the many excursions his father led him on, through the Alps of the Valais, with a camera slung over his shoulder, while at the same time falling in love with nature and wide open spaces. Although his passion for photography never left him, Richard de Tscharner’s career path led him in a different direction.

He entered the world of finance in 1972 with MM. Lombard Odier & Cie., private bankers in Geneva, eventually reaching the position of Managing Partner in 1989. More than three decades later, Richard de Tscharner decided to leave the world of banking, to fully dedicate his time to imparting the values that have led and inspired him throughout his life.

That is when photography came back into focus and brought him to widen his scope. It started with a journey of initiation in Mali with his friend and fellow photographer Jean-Baptiste Huynh and developed further in the course of an amazing round-the-world trip that forever changed his look upon the world, both as an artist and as a man. In conjunction with his photographic career, Richard de Tscharner is committed, through the Carène Foundation, to sharing two cornerstone values that have supported him all along his walk of life: education and respect for tradition.

Looking ahead to the exhibition of photographs in Geneva, Sotheby’s Co-Chairman for Switzerland, Caroline Lang, commented:

"For as long as I have known him, Richard has been a seeker of beauty and harmony. He finds them in nature and humanity alike, travelling across time and place. William Blake exhorted us: “To see a world in a grain of sand, and a heaven in a wild flower; to hold infinity in the palm of your hand, and eternity in an hour”. Richard does just this through the lens of his camera, capturing a glimpse of eternity in a given moment. He brings a perfectionist’s touch to his technique, deploying the classical silver print process to give his images a traditional and lasting quality.”

The Carène Foundation
Since leaving the world of banking, Richard de Tscharner has been on a quest to reveal our planet’s magic, bringing a childlike curiosity and enthusiasm to his artistic pursuits. His love for the greater human family inspired him to establish the Carène Foundation, which supports education for underprivileged children. It also encourages the preservation and transmission of cultural knowledge and traditions around the world.