Installation view: “Jenny Holzer: WORDS” at Sprüth Magers, New York. Genevieve Hanson

This may not be Germany’s finest hour, as the country wrestles with mounting economic and political challenges—from instability and rising polarization to anemic GDP growth (just 0.7 percent for 2025, according to European Commission forecasts) and structural weaknesses like high energy costs, underinvestment and an overreliance on exports. Yet amid these struggles, Germany’s art scene remains remarkably resilient. Just this month, German artists are asserting their presence in New York with major moments across disciplines. Anne Imhof is staging a full-scale takeover with the epic contemporary opera “DOOM: House of Hope,” while a major new exhibition by photographer Andreas Gursky highlights the precision and scale that cemented his place in the international art market. Gursky’s meticulous, large-format images have commanded multimillion-dollar records at auction—his 1999 work Rhein II remains the most expensive photograph ever sold, fetching $4.3 million at Christie’s in 2011. Meanwhile, German electronic pioneers Kraftwerk are marking the 50th anniversary of their fourth studio album, Autobahn, and their first U.S. tour in 1975 with a thirty-city tour, including two concerts in New York on March 13 and 14.

Sign Up For Our Daily Newsletter

Thank you for signing up!

By clicking submit, you agree to our terms of service and acknowledge we may use your information to send you emails, product samples, and promotions on this website and other properties. You can opt out anytime.

Observer spoke with Monika Sprüth and Philomene Magers, founders of Sprüth Magers, one of the few German galleries to establish a truly global presence while championing both international icons and some of Germany’s most influential contemporary artists. The gallery was founded in Cologne in the 1980s by Sprüth, and in 1998 she partnered with Magers. “Since the gallery opened in Cologne, we were always entrenched in the German art scene while also championing international artists right from the start,” Magers tells Observer. “Globalization, of course, plays a big part in our business, and we see our priorities in a much wider global system, but still with the attachment to Germany, our roots.”

The gallery opened in the 1980s when Germany was at the center of the international contemporary art scene. Cities like Cologne and Berlin became........

© Observer