Zilkens'
News Blog

Zilkens' News Blog 49 2025

Advent, Advent, a little light... But what kind of light? The light of despair, anger, ignorance, or perhaps the hope that things will turn out for the best? In Giessen, a university town in the heart of Germany, the youth organisation of a proven right-wing extremist party is being founded, and in the course of this, speeches are being made that draw their vocabulary from the dictionary of inhumanity, emphasising ethnic nationalism and filled with sickening pallor that can make one feel ill – and what do Germany's public broadcasters report on during prime time? That left-wing groups were allegedly attacked by police officers. Not a word about the rubbish in the hall and, to avoid misunderstandings, not a word about the fact that the allegedly anti-fascist advocates of violence are not one bit better than the brown rabble. Suppressing the distorted content only leads to conspiracy theories – no matter which side they come from – and increasing alienation from our rules. But if families no longer teach them either, because it's more convenient not to, we shouldn't be surprised.

Related: Chan-jo Jun is a specialist IT lawyer, member of the Bavarian Constitutional Court and lecturer at the University of Würzburg, i.e. the Franconian heartland of Bavarian Minister Söder. He is currently having to defend himself against a disgusting shitstorm led by the Austrian right-wing radical Sellner, who is demanding his expulsion simply because his name is not Müller, Meier or Schulze. We may have to take the same approach to anti-social media as China or Turkey. Otherwise, there will be a turbocharged frenzy that will be almost impossible to stop.

Artists need freedom to develop themselves and their talent. In many countries around the world, freedom is now nothing more than a facade full of holes, because behind it, an authoritarian clique has long since taken away the former freedoms. We offer people in this situation a three-month studio scholarship, which includes the studio and EUR 1,000 per month for materials. There are three conditions: you must have artistic training in your country of origin, you must already have the right of residence in Europe, and you must find accommodation through your network and organise an exhibition after two months, for which a catalogue will be published. An international jury will decide on the award. Applications with a brief overview of your work to date should be sent to: application@artistsinexile.de

Germany is not the only country where tax legislation has reached a level of complexity that creates more bureaucracy than can be reasonably justified by the taxes paid. France can do the same: it is well known that in auctions, in addition to the premium, a fee is also paid as a percentage of the hammer price. The simple version – this is part of the artwork and the respective value added tax is also payable on this amount. Our western neighbours are now very clever, as they have a fantastically low tax rate of 5.5% for works of art. If you are not a professional, the value added tax on the surcharge does not apply. Dealers and gallery owners have to pay it. I would call this hair-splitting, but as we all know, stinginess is cool. How do insurers in France deal with valuation now? Dealers often made use of auctions and, after a certain period of time, were happy to sell the works to collectors at a premium that was also related to risk and effort. Will this now no longer apply?

There's a lot going on this week – not only do you have to be in Miami at around 14 art fairs to catch up on the latest trends in contemporary art, but you can also be in Cologne, Berlin and Munich at the same time to follow the autumn auctions of the major German auction houses. Nothing has been coordinated in terms of timing. Fortunately, more and more can be done online. Things are likely to get really exciting at Lempertz in Cologne on 4 December. Henrik Hanstein is celebrating his 50th anniversary as an auctioneer with a fantastic auction featuring works from the 2nd century AD to the modern era and covering various genres from the wide range of items offered by the oldest family-owned auction house. Masterpieces – bid along, because an auction isn't exciting without underbidders.

The State Museum in Schwerin reopened its doors on 30 October. In just under four years, the building was modernised for a modest €12 million. The people of Cologne can only look on enviously. Their cultural heritage is crumbling away due to the dilapidated administration, whose priority is focused on traffic gridlock (euphemistically called the ‘traffic turnaround’).

Last but not least, let's take a look at tourism involving famous works of art that foster national identity. The Bayeux Tapestry is to be loaned to England for an exhibition, as decreed by the French President, and the English are curious, while the French curators are up in arms. The Mona Lisa has also travelled on diplomatic missions – in 1963 to John F. Kennedy, to the delight of more than 1 million Americans, and in 1974 to Japan, where more than 1.7 million people marvelled at the work without massively increasing their carbon footprint by travelling to Paris. On the way back from Japan, however, the Joconda was hijacked by Russia. It was taken to Moscow via Russian airspace and displayed in the Pushkin Museum for just under a month. As is so often the case with Russian interventions, there was no legal basis for this! They had something against Japan at the time, and revoking overflight rights was an effective means of getting their way. Does that remind us of anything?

Start the new week in good health, with vigour and joy.

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