Klaus Biesenbach's Berlin Success, Jeff Koons on Commerce, Carmen Thyssen's Hopper Auction
Under Klaus Biesenbach's leadership, the Neue Nationalgalerie has become Berlin's most popular museum, with attendance in 2025 surpassing pre-renovation levels by more than twofold. During Berlin Art Week, the Kulturforum attracted 30,000 visitors for the Museum Berlin Modern's raw structure unveiling, featuring a Maurizio Cattelan exhibition and complimentary performances. While Biesenbach commends the local audience, he acknowledges the city's challenges. Critics contend that he favors public relations over curatorial integrity, although some appreciate his networking efforts. In a Telegraph interview, Jeff Koons highlights the importance of dialogue in art rather than mere provocation. The Art Newspaper profiles Dasha Shenkman, who supports emerging artists via her Focus Fund. El País reveals that Carmen Thyssen will auction Edward Hopper's "The Martha McKeen of Wellfleet" on November 18, with an estimated value of $20–30 million.
Key facts
- Klaus Biesenbach has made Berlin's Neue Nationalgalerie the city's most-visited museum, with 2025 attendance more than double pre-renovation levels.
- About 30,000 people attended Berlin Art Week events at the Kulturforum, including the opening of the raw structure for Museum Berlin Modern, a Maurizio Cattelan exhibition, and free performances.
- Jeff Koons told The Telegraph he pursues an "aesthetics of communication" and sees no contradiction between art and money, citing Andy Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein.
- Dasha Shenkman's Focus Fund with the Contemporary Art Society funds acquisitions of young artists from Frieze's Focus section; she has donated over 40 works to British museums.
- Carmen Thyssen will auction Edward Hopper's "The Martha McKeen of Wellfleet" (1944) at Sotheby's New York on November 18, estimated at $20–30 million.
- The Hopper painting is the last of five nautical works the artist conceived as a series and one of only two Hopper ship paintings still in private hands.
- In 2020, Thyssen withdrew four works, including the Hopper, from Madrid's Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum for possible sale; a 2022 loan agreement allowed certain works to be sold.
- Artnet News reports on this week's major London auctions at Sotheby's, Phillips, and Christie's.
Entities
Artists
- Klaus Biesenbach
- Johanna Adorján
- Maurizio Cattelan
- Silke Hennig
- Jeff Koons
- Catherine Ostler
- Salvador Dalí
- Andy Warhol
- Roy Lichtenstein
- José da Silva
- Dasha Shenkman
- Belle Shenkman
- Jean Arp
- Carmen Thyssen
- Edward Hopper
- Martha McKeen
- Reggie McKeen
Institutions
- Neue Nationalgalerie
- Museum Berlin Modern
- Süddeutsche Zeitung
- Radio3 vom RBB
- Dittrich & Schlechtriem
- Nordenhake
- The Telegraph
- Louis Vuitton
- Hublot
- The Art Newspaper
- Contemporary Art Society
- Dasha Shenkman Focus Fund
- Frieze London
- Abbot Hall
- El País
- Sotheby's
- Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum
- Artnet News
- Phillips
- Christie's
Locations
- Berlin
- Germany
- Kulturforum
- Linienstraße
- Goethestraße
- New York
- United States
- London
- United Kingdom
- Cumbria
- Madrid
- Spain
- New England
- Wellfleet