The art fair
International Fair for Classic Modern and Contemporary Art
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The art karlsruhe takes place annually in Baden-Württemberg, one of the wealthiest German states, and benefits from its location in the border triangle of Germany, Switzerland and France. This fair for Classic Modern and Contemporary art spans a spectrum of more than 120 years of art history. art karlsruhe presents the complete bandwidth of the art of the 20th century, flanked by the latest artworks fresh the artists’ ateliers.
At home in the art collectors’ State of Baden-Württemberg, embedded in a dense cultural landscape with great private collections such as Grässlin (St. Georgen), Schaufler (Sindelfingen), Hoppe-Ritter (Waldenbuch), Museum Würth (Schwäbisch Hall and elsewhere) and Frieder Burda Foundation (Baden-Baden), art karlsruhe has established itself since 2004 as a permanent feature on the international art-fair scene.
Find out more about the fair highlight of the art business here.
In Karlsruhe, passion prompts people to buy art. Our consistently high numbers of visitors and the strong satisfaction expressed by visitors and exhibitors alike confirm our concept. We see ourselves as perhaps the most democratic of all art fairs: art karlsruhe adeptly builds a bridge between works by established artists on the one hand and less costly yet nonetheless artistically valuable positions that pave the way for new aficionados to begin collecting art.
Classic Modern and Contemporary uniquely arranged
art karlsruhe is unique thanks to its arrangement of gallery stands in interplay with spacious sculpture:squares and one:artist shows in comprehensibly structured, light-flooded halls.
Furthermore, art karlsruhe boasts a convincing curatorial concept, which also clearly assigns specific focal points to each of the four halls:
- Classic Modern + Contemporary Art
- Art after 1945 + Contemporary Art
- Discover
- Artication (Art+Education)
Look forward to an inspiring tour through 120 years of art history!
Interspersed in the landscape of gallery stands, the sculpture:squares add structure to the fair’s halls and create venues for contemplation. Each of these 100-square-metre areas offers gallery owners the opportunity to present one or maximally two artists. The interplay between three-dimensional art on an open area and two-dimensional art at the fair’s stands sparks enthusiasm among the exhibiting gallery owners and collectors.
The one:artist shows (each with at least 25 square metres of exhibition space) embody a gallery’s commitment to a single artist. Each one:artist show offers collectors the opportunity to gain deeper insights into the oeuvre of the exhibiting artist.
Topics of Interest
Every year at art karlsruhe artists of Classic Modern are presented by galleries. Art directions such as Expressionism, Cubism, Surrealism or Constructivism can be found at the fair.
Art after 1945, art informel or informal art summarizes the styles of abstract or non-geometric, non-representational art. The focus of art after the Second World War is the free, spontaneous creative process.
Contemporary art can be found in Karlsruhe in addition to art after 1945 and classic modern in the big halls. The latest works fresh from the artists' studios can be found in the Discover Hall.
Classic modern
A glance at the list of artists proves that art karlsruhe annually presents outstanding works of Classic modern art. None of the big-name artists who inarguably wrote new chapters in art history during the previous century seem to be missing. Visitors looking for styles such as Expressionism, Cubism, Surrealism or Constructivism will find them in Hall 3 at the fair.
Art after 1945
The term “Art after 1945", which is presented in Hall 2 at art karlsruhe, embraces artistic positions that crystallized after the Second World War, along with established positions in Contemporary art.
Contemporary Art
Hall 4/ dm-arena at art karlsruhe is devoted to “Discover”, but contemporary artworks can, of course, also be found in the fair’s other halls.
Sculpture
Sculptures play an important role within art karlsruhe and have been structurally anchored in the concept of the fair from the very beginning.
formats of art karlsruhe
one:artist show
one:artist shows are part of the successful concept of art karlsruhe. On an area of at least 25m², a gallery dedicates its programme to a selected artist.
re:discover
Support programme for the rediscovery of artists in their second or third phase of artistic creation.
paper:square
Discover the diversity of works on paper in the new section paper:square.
Museum Mile
art karlsruhe’s Museum Mile offers cultural institutions (such as museums, art associations and foundations, as well as culture tourism) a platform for sharing and utilizing the synergies of an international art fair.
one:artist show
The numerous one:artist shows are part of the successful concept of art karlsruhe. On a surface of at least 25 square meters, a gallerist dedicates his program to a selected artist, thus providing in-depth insight into artistic creation. Each year around 75 one:artist shows are shown at art karlsruhe, spread over all four halls. Each one:artist show of the fair is automatically nominated for the art karlsruhe prize.
art karlsruhe prize for the most compelling one:artist show
The art karlsruhe prize is awarded jointly by the state of Baden-Württemberg and the city of Karlsruhe and is endowed with € 15,000. A specialist jury selects the most convincing individual presentation from all the one:artist show presented at the fair.
Immediately after the award ceremony, works by the award-winning artist will be purchased from the gallery, which will then be transferred to the art karlsruhe Collection. This collection is managed by the Städtische Galerie Karlsruhe and supervised by the director Dr. Stefanie Patruno.
Previous prize winners
- 2025 Etsu Egami Galerie Kornfeld, Berlin
- 2024 Carlo Krone Galerie Fuchs, Stuttgart
- 2023 Mona Radziabari Galerie Michael Sturm, Stuttgart
- 2022 Ambra Durante Galerie Friese, Berlin
- 2020 Annette Kelm Galerie König, Berlin
- 2019 Myriam Holme Galerie Bernhard Knaus Fine Art, Frankfurt am Main
- 2018 Sarah McRae Morton Galerie Anja Knoess, Köln
- 2017 Neringa Vasiliauskaite Galerie Smudajescheck, München
- 2016 Werner Schmidt Galerie Wohlhüter, Leibertingen-Thalheim
- 2015 Alfonso Hüppi Galerie Reinhold Maas, Reutlingen
- 2014 Jessica Buhlmann Galerie Anja Rumig, Stuttgart
- 2013 Claude Wall Galerie Angelo Falzone, Mannheim
- 2012 Tatjana Doll Galerie Klaus Gerrit Friese, Stuttgart
- 2011 Jens Hanke Galerie Hunchentoot, Berlin
- 2010 Julius Grünewald Galerie Karlheinz Meyer, Karlsruhe
- 2009 Thomas Müller Galerie Michael Sturm, Stuttgart
- 2008 Reto Boller Galerie Mueller-Roth, Stuttgart
re:discover
Funding program for artists in an advanced creative phase and their galleries
We are very pleased that the re:discover funding programme, which was realised for the first time at art karlsruhe 2024, will be funded by the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media (BKM) for another two years and is thus entering its second round.
Together with the Bundesverband Deutscher Galerien und Kunsthändler e.V. (BVDG) and supported by the BKM, art karlsruhe aims to make artistic work that has received insufficient recognition visible and effective again for a wider audience.
This year, 15 juried galleries will each present an artistic position within the framework of re:discover that, despite their quality and despite the continuous creation of original works of art, have not been able to achieve lasting national or international visibility, recognition, and to build up a collector base.
Supported by:
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re:frame
Under the ‘label’ re:frame, artists' estates will be presented at various gallery stands at the fair that have a model character.
The programme will also be accompanied by a talk programme at the fair.
In dialogue with the market, we have established how great the need is to talk about estates and about artists who have left behind a work and to see what questions arise and what best-practice examples could look like.
paper:square
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art karlsruhe is known for offering its visitors an easy introduction to collecting art. At this point we want to establish a new section.
If you ask renowned collectors what the first work of art they acquired was, you will usually hear: a work on paper!
Based on the previous possibility of presenting prints at art karlsruhe, which many visitors have repeatedly described as a much appreciated, protected space for the personal discovery of art, we are developing a new area: paper:square.
new:comer
With the new section new:comer art karlsruhe promotes young galleries with a founding date from 2020 or younger and with less than three participations in art karlsruhe.
The future needs young talent!
We especially want to encourage the participation of young galleries with their exciting artistic positions and support their first appearances in karlsruhe to enable a sustainable return.
Museum Mile
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art karlsruhe’s Museum Mile offers cultural institutions (such as museums, art associations and foundations, as well as culture tourism) a platform for sharing and utilizing the synergies of an international art fair.
Embedded in Hall 3 alongside the art academies, special exhibitions and the Paper Squares, the Museum Mile presents itself at art karlsruhe with attractive information stands. More than 430 selected institutions in Karlsruhe’s cultural landscape find their interested target audience here, as do cultural institutions from the entire federal state and neighbouring regions. International exhibitors come, for example, from France and Switzerland.
The presentation and the sale of originals, editions and graphic prints is not permitted in the area of the Museum Mile, which serves solely as an advertising platform for the institutions and their exhibits, but not for individual artists. This is reserved for the gallery stands at the fair. The event’s organizer, in consensus with the curator, decides on permission to participate.