Galerie Thomas, the Munich-based blue-chip firm founded 60 years ago, filed for bankruptcy in a court in that German city on July 16. The news comes as a shock, given the gallery’s decades-long record of presenting major exhibitions as well as regularly participating in prestigious international art fairs like TEFAF and Art Basel.
Sources told Artnet News that there were hints of something amiss when the gallery did not participate in the most recent edition of Art Basel in Switzerland last month.
Neither of the gallery directors, Raimund Thomas and his daughter, Silke Thomas, nor the attorney named as overseer of the proceedings, Hubert Ampferl, immediately responded to requests for comment.
The gallery’s specialties range from German Expressionism and the Bauhaus to European modernism and contemporary art. Recent solo exhibitions have been devoted to artists like George Rickey, Günther Förg, Joseph Beuys, and Max Ernst.
The Munich newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung quoted Ampferl saying that they are looking for someone to take over the gallery. Over the next few weeks, the gallery will reportedly assess what claims may be in place for works of art it holds, as some belong to the firm and others are there on consignment.
According to a report in the Handelsblatt paper, Ampferl said the gallery will continue to operate as usual for the time being. Employees will continue to work there for the next few weeks and will later receive unemployment benefits from the Federal Employment Agency for a period of up to three months. Proceedings on the insolvency are reportedly scheduled to begin at the end of September.
Raimund Thomas. Photo by Robert Haas
Galerie Thomas was founded in Munich in 1964 by Raimund Thomas and exhibited at the first Art Cologne fair in 1967. In 1986, Thomas joined forces with other art dealers to found the Villa Grisebach auction house in Berlin. Since 1996, Thomas has co-managed the gallery with his Silke, who is his daughter.
In 2015, the gallery closed its location on Maximilianstrasse and focused on its space at Türkenstrasse, which it opened in 2009, opposite the Pinakothek der Moderne.
According to the gallery’s website, its current show, “Diversity in Visions,” is set to run through August 31. It includes work by Arman, Stephan Balkenhol, Peter Blake, Jim Dine, Gunther Förg, Sam Francis, Rebecca Horn, Alex Katz, David LaChapelle, Balthasar Lobo, Nam June Paik, Otto Piene , Sigmar Polke, Anselm Reyle, and Katja Strunz.