Courtesy Contemporary Fine Arts, Photo: Jan Bauer

Berlin developed after the fall of the wall and has become a booming center of contemporary art . Now there are four hundred galleries from all over the world and 5500 artists living in the city around the river Spree.
In future Art Rabbit will feature regular updates from Berlin to keep you in the loop. We start our Berlin reports with a two part overview of the vital new collectors scene in the capital.

Wilhelm Schürmann at Rosa-Luxemburg-PlaceA fusion of art, work and daily life again appears to be a central theme around the collection of Wilhelm Schürmann. Schürmann is a professor of photography, himself once a photographer and gallery owner.

Through an acquaintance with Martin Kippenberger, Schürmann discovered contemporary art for himself. He sold his collection of historical photographs to the Getty Museum and invested the complete proceeds in contemporary art. His collection now includes approximately 1200 paintings, drawings, sculptures, videos and installations. These include works by Jason Rhoades, Jeff Koons, Julia Scher, Fareed Armaly and Paul McCarthy.

In Berlin Schürmann opened an art room at Rosa-Luxemburg-Platz, in front of the famous East Berlin avant garde theater "Volksbühne". Schürmann wants to deliver more of a chamber concert of art then to celebrate his collectors-ego with a big show, so he makes do with a 85 sqm former shop. Schürmann believes in the political relevance of art in a similar manner to Joseph Beuys; he has showcased ambitious conceptual art by artists such as New York based John Miller.

www.scheurmann-berlin.de

Heiner Bastians Kunsthaus at the Museums-Iland In contrast to Schürmann, Heiner Bastian, curator, collector and former Secretary of Josef Beuys is not satisfied with small scale solutions for his collecting. His ambitious and proactive stance in some way set the bar for the capital's current cultural scene.

Directly opposite the World Heritage 'Museumsinsel' at the „Kupfergraben“ he has commissioned British architect David Chipperfield to construct a town house for modern art. The four story 'Kunsthaus' is situated next to Schinkels „Neuer Wache“ , with . I.M. Peis elegant extension of the German Historical Museum only a stones throw away. The newly opened building houses the renowned CFA (Contemporary Fine Arts), which is one of the most important galleries in Germany. CFA includes famous artists such as Jonathan Meese, Daniel Richter, Jörg Immendorf and Georg Baselitz in it's program. Heiner Bastian himself opened on the third floor with stella artist Damien Hirst. Next up the collector will show a series of Anselm Kiefer works from the seventies.

www.cfa-berlin.com