Zilkens'
News Blog

Zilkens' News Blog 42 2025

Now, at the time of writing, the last remaining hostages are to be released by Hamas. In return, 2,000 fighters will be released from Israeli prisons. Whether they are really prepared to adhere to the peace plan is questionable – and unfortunately there are enough forces that have no interest in peace. Let us hope that they will not receive further support from states that want to wage proxy wars.

The International Convention of Fine Art Transporters met last week in Budapest for its 49th conference. Alongside ATIM, this organisation aims to develop standards for art transport and ensure that less damage occurs to art during transit. The public section of the homepage revealed little more than the fact that they wanted to meet. The choice of Budapest as the venue is interesting, given that freedom of art and speech is not particularly valued in that country – but I consider it out of the question that the association's motives are to be found where those of the Hamburg-Mannheimer distributors were.

Art Jakarta also came to an end last week. 38,000 visitors explored the offerings of 75 galleries from Southeast Asia and other parts of the world, showcasing the work of artists from 16 countries. Contemporary art from Asia is the main focus, which makes the fair so interesting for people who have acquired their art education outside this cultural circle.

Museum associations sometimes make magical moments happen – like the Society for Modern Art in Cologne, which managed to get Tobias Meyer, former star auctioneer at Sotheby's who disappeared into the fog of his private network in 2013, to give a talk in the Art in Context series. Summons of over USD 100 million were his signature (Picasso, Munch, Warhol), and his insights into the events surrounding them opened up new horizons for people who keep both feet on the ground and are nevertheless very successful. In the area of private sales, there are only a few contacts who are willing to pay high sums for extremely good quality. These results remain hidden. All the more reason to talk to Weltkunst and Handelsblatt about transparency in the art market at Art Cologne.

For more than 40 years, Hans-Ewald Schneider was at the helm of Hasenkamp, a company described by cabaret artist Jürgen Becker as defining the very term “art”. (‘Art is everything that is transported by Hasenkamp.’) In the meantime, his son Dr Thomas Schneider has taken on more and more management responsibilities from his father. Together, they celebrated 122 years of Hasenkamp and 75 years of HES with a large group of guests. Congratulations.

Peter Wehrle, who until March of this year was commercial director at one of Germany's most successful auction houses, will join the board of Weng Fine Art AG on 1 January 2026, whose results in 2024 were not so impressive. Until April, he was also a member of the executive committee of the Federal Association of German Art Auctioneers. He understands finance – and in a stock corporation, that is a special challenge. We wish him luck and fortune.

The Highlight Fair, named after the city, is starting this week in Munich – some see it as a mini Maastricht, as it usually has exhibitors from all art genres, centuries and styles. The participating galleries are hoping for encouraging news from the economy and an increase in collectors' willingness to buy. There is one thing they may need to watch out for: the Meyer Oceanic Art gallery in Paris reports that in September, a suitcase containing traditional tattooing tools from Polynesia, several Eskimo objects made from walrus tusks and a necklace was stolen in Germany.

In Mexico and Mallorca, heavy rainfall has led to casualties and devastation, the earth is shaking in the Philippines, there was a seaquake off Kamchatka, the effects of which were also felt on the coast of Japan, simple cable damage led to a breakdown of the baggage carousels at Düsseldorf Airport... This random selection from recent weeks clearly shows that there is a wealth of sudden and unforeseen events that are either not insured or whose effects have not been simulated in advance using a model-based risk management system. All of these events have varying degrees of impact on the insurance industry. The easing of the premium market, which is increasingly being reported on, only applies to a selection of risks. Otherwise, general inflation is driving the calculation of mass insurance lines.

We wish you a good start to the week and hope you will continue to favour us with your custom.

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