Zilkens' News Blog

Zilkens' Newsblog 5 2022

Dear friends (and of course girlfriends) of Kobel's Art Week and our newsblog,

Art fairs are being moved - in both senses of the word, the Art Basel Hong Kong to May and the FIAC to Nirvana, because Messe Basel was able to obtain the timeslot in the Grand Palais in Paris in a last-minute tender. It's a bit reminiscent of the German situation with tenders for insurance services for public museums. As a rule, the same competitor (please understand gender-neutral) always wins - and the amazing thing is that he, she, it seems to know the offers of the others before the tender deadline has expired. A mischievous person might wonder. The number of insurers participating in this pseudo-competition for "we can only do cheap" is decreasing. The bottom line is that the marginal benefit is undercut. Fortunately, losses at large exhibitions are rare. However, there are hailstorms in the stocks every now and then. Now the alleged perpetrators of the brazen robbery from the Green Vault a little more than two years ago are on trial in Dresden.

While the old white men of the old world indulge in threatening gestures that pose a latent danger to world peace, arch-enemies come together. Israel's prime minister visits the United Arab Emirates - enemies become trading partners. It makes more sense to develop what can unite than to foment what destroys. Looking ahead can help.

Murielle Gindraux helped shape the fortunes of art insurance at Liberty in Switzerland for 6 years. Now she is leaving to take on responsibility in the family business. We wish her every success and happiness. Han Byul Jung will take over her role and Larissa Lampert starts as junior underwriter tomorrow morning. David Saillen seems to have his area of responsibility under control.

In London, Lucinda Shelton is leaving Lockton, where she was a senior broker in the arts, to go to Mexico. Our best wishes and thanks for the past years go to her as well. Brave decision - but what was it Hannah Arendt said? - where love falls, there it blazes ... .

Corona numbers are going through the roof in almost all countries. But it doesn't really seem to bother anyone any more, because omicron seems less lethal. Only art exhibitions, fairs and galleries fear for a sensitised clientele. More is happening online now and this is also encouraging the NFT (Non fungible token) who are still arguing whether this is art or a great way to cheat a monetary policy dominated by national interests.

Gerhard Kehlenbeck, who has been with Thomas Le Claire in Hamburg since 2001 and is also one of the main pillars of the business, is retiring as of today. Goodbye says the gallery and we join in.

To our English-speaking readers, from today on we offer the Kunstwoche and the newsblog in a separate English edition, which we create with the help of DeepL. You can use https://zilkensfineart.com/en/newsletter-subscription if you prefer that version ...

We wish you all a great start into the new week

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