work. After all, New York had largely ignored Tobey, and he had only spent a little time there.
You had a close, trusting business relationship. Would you also say that you were friends beyond that?
We had a very friendly relationship. By the way, I did not attempt to become his sole representative, but encouraged him to continue his relationship with his original gallery, Willard Gallery, in New York.
How did Tobey feel about Seattle during his time in Basle?
From time to time, Tobey returned to his studio in Seattle, and he maintained his friendships there.
Mark Tobey was a devout member of the Baha’i religious society. Taking this into consideration, is it possible that Basle’s remarkably humanist tradition was important to him?
Basle’s humanist tradition was very important to him, and he quickly made connections to Baha’i circles in Switzerland.
What was a typical day for Tobey like in Basle?
He led a reserved life, as he always did everywhere, but he did enjoy having several friends — doctors and musicians — around. Especially during his last years he often gave away small, spur-of-the-moment works, which, unfortunately, were later circulated.
Do you remember the people who visited him?
Ben Nicholson, Julius Bissier, John Cage, Sam Francis, and others often visited him.
Do you recall any conversations you and Tobey had about painting?
Tobey often came to the gallery. We talked a great deal about painting, about works in shows or museums in Basle that seemed important to him. He allowed himself to be inspired by other works, valued Picasso, and laughed a lot about his spontaneous, fresh ideas.
Two wonderful paintings by Tobey are part of the Fondation Beyeler collection in Riehen: White Journey (1956), which you’ve already mentioned, and the late, large-format canvas, Oncoming White (1972), which the painter completed at the age of 82. In the collection, these two works appear in relation to paintings by other American painters, such as Mark Rothko or Jackson Pollock. Did Tobey himself ever remark upon these relationships?
Tobey admired Mark Rothko very much. He also valued De Kooning and Pollock a great deal. He said that he knew from New York
that his own 1935 Broadway paintings had been a great influence upon Pollock at the time. This fact, which Tobey was aware of, was never mentioned in New York, however.