Work database

Drawing: Annegrete Riebesel, Design: Stefanie Demmel

An important step in the preservation of artists’ estates is the digital documentation of what is worth preserving. To this end, the BBK Saxony-Anhalt launched the “Saxony-Anhalt Visual Arts Database” in fall 2017. This is where the bequests and estates of visual artists from Saxony-Anhalt are recorded. This gives artists from Saxony-Anhalt the opportunity to present themselves and their work on the Internet: for the art trade, museums, researchers – and anyone interested in art.


Screenshot Werkdatenbank Bildende Kunst Sachsen-Anhalt, 2024
Screenshot Werkdatenbank Bildende Kunst Sachsen-Anhalt, 2024

New design and new filter functions for the 2021 works database

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.


Benno Butter:
Benno Butter: New York, um 1957 (Foto: Andreas Butter)

Publications September 2021

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:


Harald Döring: Krebs, 1978
Harald Döring: Krebs, 1978

Publications 2020

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 […]


Eva Mahn: O.T. (aus der Serie "Töpferkleider"), 1982
Eva Mahn: “O.T.” (aus der Serie “Töpferkleider”), 1982

Publications 2018

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 […]


Pilot project plant database 2018 to 2021

In the pilot phase of the project from 2018 to 2021, selected directories were entered into the works database, covering a range of artistic genres, generations and regional distribution within Saxony-Anhalt. The pilot phase was financed by the Investitionsbank Sachsen-Anhalt as part of the “Digital Heritage” program. The first three directories were compiled by project […]