Hauser & Wirth Zürich was founded in 1992 by its principals Ursula Hauser, Manuela Wirth and Iwan Wirth. Since 1996 it has been located in the former Löwenbräu brewery building, along with other contemporary art galleries, the Kunsthalle Zurich and the Migros Museum.

In 2003, Hauser & Wirth London opened on Piccadilly in an historic building designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens as a branch of Midland Bank in 1922. In the autumn of 2006, Hauser & Wirth set up offices and a shared gallery space in Old Bond Street, which has hosted several exhibitions annually, including a show of Francis Picabia nudes and a Henry Moore exhibition designed by Zaha Hadid Architects.

In September 2009, Hauser & Wirth New York will open at 32 East 69th Street with 'YARD', a seminal Environment first made in 1961 by Allan Kaprow, the profoundly influential American artist known as the inventor of 'Happenings.'

Hauser & Wirth co-publishes a number of vital and diverse artists' books and monographs each season, realizing artists' instinctive desires on the printed page and distributing the resulting titles internationally.