Zilkens' News Blog

Zilkens‘ News Blog 19 2026

The time is almost here: on Wednesday 20 May at 5.00 pm, the exhibition featuring the first grant recipients of ‘Support Artists in Exile Cologne e.V.’ will open at Galerie Minima in Cologne. The artists have each given their body of work its own title: Majd Suliman’s section is called DIY Expression, and Anas Kahal’s is titled SYRIA: IMAGES FROM MEMORY. You are already warmly invited to join us on 20 May.

The Gallery Weekend in Berlin was certainly an exciting event. Just over 50 galleries pay at least 5,000 EUR to take part, and it feels like another 100 or so tag along. My highlights were Pae White at Neugerriemschneider (between 30 and 100 TUSD), new works by Markus Lüpertz at Michael Werner (from 75 TEUR upwards), Yuji Agematsu’s ‘Abfallkalender’ at Buchholz (a good six-figure sum in EUR), Tatjana Danneberg’s responses to Anna & Bernhard Blume at Super Super Market, Koberling at Buchmann (from 9,999.00) and ‘un secolo di Decadenza’ at Jochum Rodgers, where there were some delightful pieces of furniture from Italy. At Hetzler, there was an exhibition of artistic self-expression curated by Cornelius Tittel, featuring, amongst other things, a sculpture by Jeff Koons (Dirty – Jeff on Top) – which was still considered scandalous in the early 90s – available for at least 7 million EUR. A bargain, when you consider the prices for the various Balloons. It used to be said that sex sells – one would have expected that when working with Cicciolina, but in our increasingly prudish world, one has to be more restrained when it comes to pricing.

The Paper Positions fair, held at the same time, attracted over 16,000 visitors, who were also keen buyers. In the entrance hall of the old Tempelhof Airport, everything was just right. The Prussian auctions at Lempertz also went well, as can be gleaned from the FAZ. Some people would like to write off the art market – but it has shown itself to be quite vibrant, particularly in recent weeks. In Venice, something quite different awaits us this week – the Biennale del Arte! As if this national navel-gazing didn’t also have an impact on the art market. It will be interesting to see how this year’s edition is received, now that the jury has resigned en masse. I’d cover the Russian pavilion in yellow and blue ribbons and only reopen it once the carnage perpetrated by Putin and his Russian henchmen has come to an end. Presumably, though, that would also be considered criminal damage in Italy.

Georg Baselitz has passed away at the age of 88 and Timm Ulrichs at 86. In Berlin, it is not yet clear whether this will affect prices. There are, after all, insurers who believe they can account for the impact on price trends following an artist’s death (yes, all genders are included) in their policies. But prices don’t just go up.

There is still no effective remedy for rail delays. On Saturdays, taxi drivers say, 120-minute delays are the norm. We had: technical faults, people on the tracks and official measures – what did you experience on your last train journey? Oh yes, I almost forgot: catering on Deutsche Bahn’s tasteless and culturally hostile dining carriages (just take a trip to Switzerland, dear railway executives) has also been suspended out of consideration for the staff’s overtime. The trade unions are a real headache in Germany too – we no longer live in the 19th century! Trust people to take more responsibility for themselves!

After the opening of the Biennale, Whitsun will eventually arrive – the festival when Christians commemorate the multilingualism of humanity. An early version of DeepL, so to speak – more than 2,000 years ago, this was considered a miracle. Today, many take it for granted and aren’t even curious – a shame, because curiosity drives life.

With this in mind, we wish everyone a happy and energetic start to the week

Stephan Zilkens and the team at Zilkens Fine Art Insurance Broker GmbH in Solothurn and Cologne