At the beginning of 1967, Christine Stauffer joined the Kornfeld and Klipstein Gallery in Bern as Eberhard W. Kornfeld’s assistant. She was a very quick learner and dedicated employee, and soon became indispensable to the business. Her exceptional language skills, quick comprehension and, above all, her excellent customer service skills did not go unnoticed. Kornfeld entrusted her with many delicate acquisition missions early on – her expertise and high work ethic were greatly appreciated both within the company and abroad. It is therefore not surprising that Christine Stauffer was accepted into the company in 1972. From then on, she played an integral role in the auction and exhibition business. Together with Kornfeld, she formed a well-coordinated team that was responsible for cataloguing all auction lots for decades. She became Eberhard W. Kornfeld’s right-hand woman, contributing ideas, orchestrating operations and pulling the strings behind the scenes. She was also responsible for personnel matters and accompanied dozens of apprentices through to their final examinations. For many years, Christine Stauffer was the central hub at Kornfeld, always supporting her boss and mentor.
Furthermore, as a researcher, she played a key role in publishing most of the catalogues raisonnés produced by our company, including those for the graphic works of Alberto Giacometti and Paul Gauguin, and she independently authored the catalogue raisonné of Giovanni Giacometti’s graphic works. Apart from Eberhard Kornfeld himself, there were probably few specialists in the graphic arts market who acquired as much knowledge over the years as Christine Stauffer did. We in the company were able to benefit from her expertise on many occasions: she was and is a walking encyclopaedia. She was also a valued colleague of many musuem’s graphic art collections and of private collectors, and regularly taught university courses on topics such as forgeries.

When, a good five years ago, we decided to completely renovate and expand our auction house, Christine was one of the project’s most vocal advocates, arguing that we needed more space and better storage facilities. The major renovation and construction work in 2023/2024 and again in 2025 were difficult for everyone, but Christine endured them patiently. The last few months with her great boss and mentor, Eberhard Kornfeld, were particularly difficult. She visited him almost every day as he prepared for his final journey at home. With his death on 13 April 2023, an era came to an end: the last great art dealer of the old school has left us forever. His charisma and knowledge will be greatly missed at the company. While others had long been enjoying their retirement, Christine Stauffer worked at the company every day and on many weekends. Friends and family always said that the company was her life. Unfortunately, her health issues have increased in recent years. She developed an eye problem and her hip became increasingly painful.
Last year, her confidence in the new management led her to decide that she wanted to reduce her future involvement in the operational auction business. Christine Stauffer therefore left Galerie Kornfeld Auktionen AG as a partner and member of the management board in spring 2025 at her own request. She has, however, retained her office in the building and will henceforth focus mainly on provenance research and the archive holdings. She will continue to support us as a consultant and will thus remain with Kornfeld. However, she will now be able to dispose of her time more freely and choose her commitments rather than being tied up in the workings of an auction house.
We would like to express our heartfelt thanks to Christine Stauffer for everything she has done for Kornfeld. It is a rare privilege to remain loyal to a company for 58 years and play a major role in building and developing it. The company would no longer exist today if Christine Stauffer had not held the reins firmly in her hands alongside Eberhard W. Kornfeld for the last 30 years and steered it through many a storm. Fortunately, we will continue to benefit from her vast knowledge in the future. We understand that, at almost 82 years of age, it is time to slow down a little – although it is hard to imagine a slowed-down Christine Stauffer. We wish her good health and, of course, continued enjoyment of art. And we are delighted that she will remain with us in the future, bringing with her a touch of the history of our company over the past almost 60 years.
Thank you very much, dear Christine, for all your hard work and kind support over the years!

Bernhard Bischoff, Christoph Kunz and all employees