Zilkens' News Blog

Zilkens' News Blog 12 2025

The TEFAF in Maastricht is not over yet and the main sponsor XL a Company of AXA is pleased to be able to motivate its employees by providing stand duty. On the opening Thursday and Friday, there was a large turnout of the important people. Those with family ties were then allowed to travel back to their families in Europe as early as Friday afternoon. There is still a little time until Thursday – and maybe you can make it to the Museum Voorlinden in Wassenaar in between, where you can admire strong contemporary positions.

The Palazzo Strozzi cancelled the opening of the Tracy Ermin exhibition on Friday due to bad weather in Tuscany. The American southern states have barely voted with great unanimity for the TV showmaster with the furry coat as their president when the deluge comes in the form of 40 tornadoes. Missouri, Arkansas, Mississippi, Louisiana, Illinois, Tennessee, Alabama and Indiana have been affected. Storms have been forecast for the American East Coast. This is bad news for the insurance industry, which is still recovering from the effects of the California fires. Reinsurers have been calling for higher premiums for the assumption of extreme risks for some time. Since many risk carriers are positioned more globally – no, not the Ostangler Brandgilde or the Ammerländer – customers in regions that are far from the aforementioned events may also be affected by price increases in the medium term. This will also affect the two mentioned above, because their reinsurance is ultimately organised in a global market. Even if the world is becoming more provincial in some places, in the insurance business the structure remains global because the risks cannot be distributed otherwise if insurance is to remain affordable.

We have all heard of blue chip works of art and artists. This comes from the stock market, where the blue chips are the most promising companies. Now there are also red chips in the art world – and they have nothing to do with the favourite colour of the American Republicans. Annie Armstrong attempts an analysis of this market segment, which is based on the theory of surfaces, in Artnet.

Everyone is thinking about reducing bureaucracy – and the Accessibility Strengthening Act comes along just in time, with the tailwind of the EU. This has something to do with the companies' internet presence and is subject to draconian penalties if it is not taken into account. However, it is not clear how a website should be designed to be barrier-free, because it is not entirely clear which disabilities should be treated more fairly with it. Not every idiot should have access to everything. And you don't have to sell everything to everyone, there should be legal restrictions on that too... .

Besides the looted art that is usually associated with the atrocities of the Nazis, there is also looted art that can remain in private hands. This is what happened to a work by Antonio Solario that was in the Museum of Belluno until 1973. British courts have confirmed the good faith acquisition by the current owner. She would hand over the painting for a reasonable price. Unfortunately, it has lost its character as a commodity: no auction house and no dealer will accept the work. And where there is no market, there is no price.

In Austria, public transport can look forward to a stream of art collectors who want to be in Vienna and Bregenz at the same time. All of them to the Spark - the fair with the identical stands in a circle and all of them also to the fair in Bregenz. It is interesting that Austrian galleries in particular allow themselves to be taken for a ride like this. In the end, it damages the reputation of both fairs. It doesn't matter to Art Basel in Hong Kong. It starts a week later.

A strong week full of good experiences for everyone.

Stephan Zilkens and the team at Zilkens Fine Art Insurance Brokers in Solothurn and Cologne.