20 Years Van der Koelen Foundation for Arts and Sciences

13 July 2023

The van der Koelen Foundation for Art and Science celebrates its 20th anniversary this year. To commemorate this occasion, the gallerist, art historian and president of the foundation, Dr. Dorothea van der Koelen, has conceived an exhibition that presents special masterpieces from the foundation’s collection to the interested art public.

The van der Koelen Foundation for Art and Science was founded in July 2003 by Dr. phil. Dorothea van der Koelen. The concept of the founder differs clearly from the conventional private museum: It is a holistic offer for the encounter with art on all levels. Value-oriented promotion of current trends in contemporary art can be experienced by a large audience, with special emphasis on the promotion of young artists. Synergies of theory and practice, science and economy are the basic idea. The symbiosis of education and training is the program.

Dorothea van der Koelen has been a passionate gallerist and art mediator for over 40 years. Having grown up in an artistic home, she decided to dedicate her life and work to contemporary art even before studying art history, philosophy and books. She now has three galleries in Mainz and Venice and has demonstrated her curatorial skills in over 600 exhibitions in more than 30 countries on all continents and has gathered a wealth of experience. She would like to pass this on to future generations.

She took the public space by storm with her artists and became the interface between the art market and scientific research work. At the same time, she left no stone unturned in communicating art to the general public and realized numerous collaborations with museums and public exhibition institutes worldwide. She has published numerous essays on art in lectures, journals and books and has also made a name for herself as a publisher: she is a recognized editor of œuvre catalogs. As a juror, she serves on several committees.

The foundation was established by her to create a place of international encounters, a forum where people of all generations, religions and nations who want to engage with contemporary art and engage in dialogue with like-minded people can find a home.

Our video of the week is intended as an amuse-gueule for all friends of art and should whet your appetite for more (exhibition). In the coming week, we will present in detail the foundation show, which will be on display in parallel with the exhibition of the Experiments series at the Cadoro.