Zilkens' News Blog Archive

Wangechi Mutu, SimbiSiren, 2026, bronze – currently on display at the Arsenale, Venice; photo by Stephan Zilkens

Zilkens' News Blog 28 2026

It’s actually pretty much a normal week: the US is celebrating 250 years of independence with a president who wants to make the country heavily dependent on him, whilst in Tehran the state terrorist Khamenei is being laid to rest with great pomp, Russia continues to attack civilian targets in Ukraine and, in defiance of every principle of international law, is attempting to destroy the ... read more

Beautiful and heat resistant; Photo Stephan Zilkens

Zilkens' News Blog 27 2026

More than half the year has already passed – and with temperatures in Europe currently racing from one record high to the next, there’s only one thing on everyone’s mind: a break from the heat! Stefan Kobel begins his half-yearly review of art market reports with the market itself – next week he’ll look at the art fairs, and finally at the auction scene.Very few ... read more

Abbey Garden Tholey, Photo: Stephan Zilkens

Zilkens' News Blog 26 2026

I’ve never taken so few photographs at Art Basel and its satellite events as I did this time. A mere five pictures made it onto the roll. Is it because I’ve already seen quite a lot in my life? Or is it because pictures costing 35 million USD fail to hold any general appeal? Or is it because the selection offered few surprises and hardly ... read more

Photo Stephan Zilkens

Zilkens' News Blog 25 2026

Some exhibitions are worth a second look. That certainly applies to this year’s Venice Biennale. A month ago, I had questioned it because video art seemed to dominate. Now, on closer inspection of the main exhibition – which featured a fair amount of derivative yet little-known work – one feels as though one is witnessing a confrontation between the Global South and the absent North. ... read more

Perugino from Città della Pieve 🇮🇹 Raphael’s teacher – a cosy little spot – Photo: Stephan Zilkens

Zilkens' News Blog 24 2026

More good news from our company: Bastian Bauer will join Petter Börgers on the management board of Zilkens Fine Art Insurance Broker GmbH. Bastian Bauer, who is responsible for finance at Attikon and also serves as managing director for other group companies, will oversee accounting and financial reporting, whilst Petter Börgers will manage client and insurer relations – without whom our business simply wouldn’t run.The ... read more

A venue for Manifesta, Heilig-Geist in Essen – near Zollverein – has fallen victim to vandals. Photo: Stephan Zilkens

Zilkens' News Blog 23 2026

For our newer readers: you are currently reading the 650th edition of our news blog and Kobel’s Art Week. Twelve and a half years of working together to report on the art market seem a good reason to take a brief look back: what was the world like when we started?The FAZ was still organising an art market symposium in the heart of Berlin, where ... read more