Artists’ estates

View into the studio of Klaus Thiede (1939-2016), photo: Ulrich Wohlgemuth

The question of how to deal with artists’ estates has become a pressing issue. This topic is examined from different angles at numerous specialist conferences and symposia. There are numerous foundations and associations that take care of estates. The “Bundesverband Künstlernachlässe” was founded in 2017 to coordinate the interests of the various artists’ estates initiatives.

The BBK Saxony-Anhalt has also been working intensively on this problem for several years. To this end, our members founded a working group on artists’ estates in 2015. We focus on two aspects in particular. On the one hand, we document catalogs raisonnés and estates digitally in our“Saxony-Anhalt Fine Arts Database“, and on the other, we are committed to the establishment of a “Saxony-Anhalt Center for Artists’ Estates”. In its coalition agreement, the state government assures that it will support the BBK in establishing an archive of estates.


The Berufsverband Bildender Künstler Sachsen-Anhalt e.V. is calling on all visual artists and estate holders (institutions and private individuals) to take part in an anonymous survey. You have until November 15 to take part. The survey is the first part of a study that the BBK Saxony-Anhalt is conducting from summer 2024 to the end […]


Lecture and panel discussion “Preserving cultural heritage. Architectural glass art yesterday – today – tomorrow” on September 10, 2024, 6 to 8 p.m. In July 2024, the state capital of Magdeburg published “Painting with Light and Glass – Architectural Glass Art in and from Magdeburg”. The volume is the result of intensive research and is […]


The BBK Saxony-Anhalt has been observing the problems of dealing with artistic bequests and estates for many years. He is committed to keeping this topic in the political discourse and finding solutions. He will now examine whether a center for artists’ estates could be expedient. The state government also attaches great importance to this idea […]


The BBK Saxony-Anhalt has been operating the “Visual Arts Database Saxony-Anhalt” since 2017. It publishes catalogs raisonnés and lists of estates of female visual artists with a connection to Saxony-Anhalt. The work database informs the public – including curators and researchers, for example – about the life’s work of individual female artists and reflects the […]


In November 2023, the BBK Saxony-Anhalt published 6 new directories in the Saxony-Anhalt Visual Arts Database! Over the course of 2023, the participating artists took part in a three-part course run by Halle-based art historian Katharina Lorenz, who was commissioned by the BBK to introduce them to the use of the database.


In December 2022, the Berufsverband Bildender Künstler Sachsen-Anhalt published the directories of 4 visual artists from Halle (Saale) online. For the first time since the existence of the work database, members of the BBK Saxony-Anhalt created their own directories. They have provided information on their careers, exhibitions, awards and publications and have included photographs and […]


The design of the Saxony-Anhalt Visual Arts Database was revised in 2021 and was created by Pepe Jürgens in collaboration with Daniel Burckhardt. The “BBK POP (Professional Online Presence)” project was funded by the “KULTUR.GEMEINSCHAFTEN” program of the Kulturstiftung der Länder as part of NEUSTART KULTUR.


In September 2021, the multi-year pilot project Werk-Datenbank Bildende Kunst Sachsen-Anhalt came to a successful conclusion with the publication of 3 further directories:


From spring 2019, directories were included via an open tender by the BBK Saxony-Anhalt. In July 2019, a five-member expert jury consisting of representatives of the Kunststiftung Sachsen-Anhalt, the Kunstmuseum Magdeburg, the Feininger-Galerie Quedlinburg and independent art scholars selected 11 bequests or estates of visual artists from 21 submitted applications for inclusion in the “Werk-Datenbank […]


The first three directories of the work database were selected for publication by the board of the BBK Saxony-Anhalt in consultation with the BBK Saxony-Anhalt working group on artists’ estates. These were released in November 2018 by State Secretary for Culture Dr. Gunnar Schellenberger during a press conference at the State Chancellery and Ministry of […]