Galerie Karsten Greve is a set of European

art galleries An art gallery is a room or a building in which visual art is displayed. In Western cultures from the mid-15th century, a gallery was any long, narrow covered passage along a wall, first used in the sense of a place for art in the 1590s. The lo ...

established by

Karsten Greve Karsten Greve (born 15 September 1946 in Dahme, Brandenburg, Germany) is a German art dealer, publisher and owner of Galerie Karsten Greve in Cologne, St Moritz, Paris and formerly Milan, specialized in the international postwar avant-garde, cont ...

that operates art exhibit spaces in Cologne ( Germany), St. Moritz ( Switzerland), and Paris ( France). It specializes in postwar and

contemporary art Contemporary art is the art of today, produced in the second half of the 20th century or in the 21st century. Contemporary artists work in a globally influenced, culturally diverse, and technologically advancing world. Their art is a dynamic c ...

, representing around fifty artists. The gallery's programme is characterized by the international postwar avant-garde, but also includes photographers and Chinese contemporary artists, as well as other international young artists. The gallery publishes catalogue editions to accompany exhibitions as well as monographs and catalogues raisonneés.

History

Galerie Karsten Greve is owned and run by German

art dealer An art dealer is a person or company that buys and sells works of art, or acts as the intermediary between the buyers and sellers of art. An art dealer in contemporary art typically seeks out various artists to represent, and builds relationshi ...

and

publisher Publishing is the activity of making information, literature, music, software and other content available to the public for sale or for free. Traditionally, the term refers to the creation and distribution of printed works, such as books, newsp ...

, who founded the original gallery in 1972 in Cologne, Germany. In 1989, Karsten Greve opened a second space in Paris, in 1994 a third location in Milan (closed 2002) and another in 1999 in St. Moritz.

Cologne

In 1970, Karsten Greve, together with Rolf Möllenhof (born 1939, Chemnitz), directed the Möllenhof/Greve Galerie. He founded his first own gallery in 1972 in its original Cologne Lindenstraße 20 Galeriehaus location, debuting with an Yves Klein solo exhibition of his Anthropometry series. In the same year, Galerie Karsten Greve presented at Art Basel for the first time. In 1973 Karsten Greve became the sole proprietor of Galerie Karsten Greve. In 1980 the gallery moved into the former space of Aenne Abels at Wallrafplatz 3 exhibiting Cy Twombly (1982), Lucio Fontana (1982 and 1983) and Willem de Kooning (1990) among others. The gallery expanded to what used to be Rudolf Zwirner's Albertusstraße 18 gallery space in 1992, designed by architect Erich Schneider-Wessling. The space was inaugurated with a John Chamberlain solo show, followed by Josef Albers (1996 and 1998), Cy Twombly (1997), Wols (1998), Louise Bourgeois (1999) and Jannis Kounellis (1999) exhibitions. Galerie Karsten Greve Cologne later moved to its main location, Drususgasse 1-5, in 2000. The lower floors of the 1950s landmark building, located in the centre of Cologne, were remodeled by French architect Yannis Tsiomis. The gallery still maintains its Wallrafplatz exhibition space to this day.

Paris

In 1989, Galerie Karsten Greve opened its Rue Debelleyme exhibition space in the

Marais district The Marais (Le Marais ; "the marsh") is a historic district in Paris, France. Having once been an aristocratic district, it is home to many buildings of historic and architectural importance. It spreads across parts of the 3rd and 4th arr ...

of Paris, near the

Musée Picasso :''This article refers to the museum in Paris. There are a number of other Picasso museums.'' The Musée Picasso ( en, Picasso Museum) is an art gallery located in the Hôtel Salé ( en, Salé Hall) in rue de Thorigny, in the Marais district ...

. Since then the area has become a popular location for galleries and has undergone extensive redevelopments. The gallery space, situated in a 17th-century palais, built around a cour d’honneur, consists of a large main gallery and another smaller, three-storey exhibition space. Architect Yannis Tsiomis was responsible for remodeling the entire interior of the property. In 2003, Galerie Karsten Greve Paris presented

Pierre Soulages Pierre Jean Louis Germain Soulages (; 24 December 1919 – 26 October 2022) was a French painter, printmaker, and sculptor. In 2014, President François Hollande of France described him as "the world's greatest living artist." His works are held ...

in a solo exhibition. Galerie Karsten Greve represents Pierre Soulages in France.

Milan

In 1994, Karsten Greve opened a third gallery space in the Via Santo Spirito in Milan in the historical city centre near

Via Montenapoleone Via Monte Napoleone, also spelled Via Montenapoleone, is an upscale shopping street in Milan, Italy, Europe's most expensive street (2022) and the third most expensive street in the world . It is famous for its ready-to-wear fashion and jewelry ...

, dedicating the first show to

Cy Twombly Edwin Parker "Cy" Twombly Jr. (; April 25, 1928July 5, 2011) was an American painter, sculptor and photographer. He belonged to the generation of Robert Rauschenberg and Jasper Johns. Twombly is said to have influenced younger artists such as ...

. Among the artists exhibited were Piero Manzoni, Lucio Fontana, Alberto Burri, Nicola de Maria, Osvaldo Licini, Francesco Lo Savio. and Mario Nigro. The space was closed in 2002.

St. Moritz

In 1999, Karsten Greve opened his fourth gallery space at Via Maistra 4 in St. Moritz, Switzerland, as one of the first in the region. The former Posthaus Hotel in which the gallery is located, was redesigned by British architect Norman Foster. Unlike other galleries in Engadin, it hosts exhibitions throughout most of the year.

Significance in the art world

The gallery achieved its reputation through its curated presentations at

art fairs An art exhibition is traditionally the space in which art objects (in the most general sense) meet an audience. The exhibit is universally understood to be for some temporary period unless, as is rarely true, it is stated to be a "permanent exhi ...

and museum quality exhibitions. Karsten Greve's longstanding friendships with many represented artists such as Cy Twombly, Louise Bourgeois, John Chamberlain, Jannis Kounellis, Pierre Soulages and Gotthard Graubner provided the basis for the gallery's programme. Galerie Karsten Greve contributed strongly to the international recognition of many of its represented artists. The gallery's main focus lies in major renewal movements present in the international art world after 1945, which provided the impetus for the continuation of revolutionary Modernism emerging after the turn of the century. The gallery stages solo and group exhibitions in its own exhibition spaces and also in collaboration with major international museums and other non-commercial art institutions, working closely with the Centre Pompidou in Paris, the Guggenheim Museum in New York, the Nasher Sculpture Center in Dallas, the Fondation Beyeler and the Kunstmuseum Basel among others by contributing works as loans. Important exhibitions the gallery contributed to include the 2008/2009 Cy Twombly show at the Guggenheim Bilbao, the 1987 Cy Twombly retrospective at the Kunsthaus Zürich, which later traveled to Madrid and London, the Louise Bourgeois retrospective at the Tate, Centre Pompidou and Guggenheim New York (2007/2008) and at the Napoli Museo di Capodimonte (2008/2009), the Musee d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris Lucio Fontana retrospective (2014) as well as numerous other exhibitions in museums in Zürich, Düsseldorf and Madrid. The gallery also acts as a consultant for private and corporate collections with works found in the Langen Foundation, Museum Frieder Burda, Museum Insel Hombroich, Broad Art Foundation, Fondation d’Art Contemporain Daniel et Florence Guerlain, Fondation Louis Vuitton, La Maison Rouge and Fondazione Prada. Galerie Karsten Greve participates in the international art fair circuit, with annual presentations at

Art Basel Art Basel is a for-profit, privately owned and managed, international art fair staged annually in Basel, Switzerland; Miami Beach; Hong Kong and from 2022, Paris. Art Basel works in collaboration with the host city's local institutions to help ...

fairs in Basel, Hong Kong and Miami Beach, FIAC Paris, TEFAF Maastricht, TEFAF New York Spring and

Art Cologne Art Cologne is an art fair held annually in Cologne, Germany and was established in 1967 as ''Kölner Kunstmarkt''. It is regarded as the world's oldest art fair of its kind. The fair runs for six days and brings together galleries from more tha ...

Publishing

Galerie Karsten Greve publishes catalogue editions to accompany its exhibitions as well as monographs and catalogues raisonneés. ''40 YEARS. 20 YEARS. 10 YEARS GALERIE KARSTEN GREVE COLOGNE. PARIS. ST. MORITZ'', published in 2010, documents the gallery's history since its founding. Highlights from the gallery's publishing activities include the following titles produced: ''BRASSAÏ – DUBUFFET'' (2011), Joseph Cornell, (1992) including texts from Joseph Cornell's journals, Louis Soutter, Finger-paintings 1937-1942, (1998), with texts by Jean Dubuffet, Lucio Fontana, Sculpture/Skulptur, lo sono uno scultore e non un ceramista, Catalogue III (2012) and Cy Twombly, Work on Paper, Catalogue VI (2013). The gallery has a social media presence..

References

External links

Galerie Karsten Greve website
{{Authority control 1972 establishments in Germany 1989 establishments in France 1994 establishments in Italy 1999 establishments in Switzerland 2002 disestablishments in Italy Art galleries established in 1972 Contemporary art galleries in Germany Contemporary art galleries in France Contemporary art galleries in Italy Contemporary art galleries in Switzerland Organisations based in Cologne Buildings and structures in Cologne Tourist attractions in Cologne Culture in Cologne Art museums and galleries in Paris Art museums and galleries in Milan St. Moritz