Zilkens' News Blog

Zilkens' News Blog 45 2022

One more week and then "Worth Fighting For" will open in Cologne. Apart from Mrs. Roth, we expect the new Ukrainian Ambassador and a video address by the Ukrainian Foreign Minister. There is still a lot to do before the world can see the powerful works that Bjorn Geldhof from Kyiv and Bart de Bare from Antwerp have put together: Walls need to be erected, lights need to be installed, canvases stretched on stretcher frames and sculptures set up, lettering is needed, the team of supervisors needs to be familiarized with fire safety regulations and rescue procedures, someone with entrepreneurial courage to offer drinks and food in a "pizza cart" during opening hours needs to be found. Of course, the transport of the artworks must be locked. And at Art Cologne will also be on display a work by Nikita Kadan, whose frame was unfortunately disposed of after the presentation in Venice - the original pieces belonging to the work have been preserved. The construction measures 4 x 8 x 4 m and according to the planning drawing it needs 300 m of black anodized aluminum brought into shape. This work will also stand. It is great to see the dedication of everyone working to make this a success. We can always use donations, because some things are a bit more expensive than originally planned - please send your donations to: Rotary Deutschland Gemeindienst e.V. IBAN DE80 3007 0010 0394 1200 00 and please write in the reason for payment: Club Nr. 21929 Project 0219292322 "Worth Fighting For" . You will then receive a tax-deductible donation receipt.

This week, for those who love to travel, is Art Week in Luxembourg. In the coming weeks, in addition to Art Cologne, there are a couple of interesting auctions in Germany at Lempertz and Griesebach, among others. The latter want to crack the 20 million mark with a Beckmann self-portrait and thus prove that the German auction trade is vital and can now hold its own against the Brexit-hit houses in London and their Paris dependencies, despite tax disadvantages.

The insurance industry is relatively relaxed in the face of increasing raids by the environmental Taliban on masterpieces of art history. Works in state and federal ownership are generally not insured. Fortunately, the glass panes have held up. Nevertheless, damage has been done and must be paid for. And the perpetrators can't even claim on their liability insurance, because it doesn't cover intent. And the attack is not harmless either, even if no human lives are endangered by it, as in the case of roadblocks. We have all long since realized that enormous efforts are needed to avert the climate catastrophe - but things are considerably more complex than the monocausal call for shutting down fossil energy production. And the population, which has now grown to over 8 billion people, is not prepared for the Stone Age - on the contrary, almost 4 billion live in Asian countries and they are not clinging to museum pieces but striving for greater participation in prosperity.

We wish you a courageous week with inspiring experiences.

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