The Hugo Helbing Lecture 2026 // Michael Hutter, Berlin: Glanz und Elend der Kunstgütermärkte

In the organizer's words:

The Hugo Helbing Lecture on research into the art market commemorates Hugo Helbing's work once a year. It took place for the first time in 2016 on the occasion of the donation of annotated auction catalogs from his company to the Central Institute for Art History.

In late modern society, the logic of the singular has prevailed alongside the logic of the general, which industrial production follows. This logic is followed above all by the productions of the art world: concerts, novels, theater performances, museum buildings, paintings, films and many mixed forms. All these art objects and events are traded on specialized markets. But do the laws of general industrial production apply where they are sold? Are the extreme discrepancies between the profits of bestsellers and blockbusters and the incomes of most of those who offer artistic products inevitable? In order to find an answer to this question, the motives of those who buy art goods must also be taken into consideration.

The art trade, i.e. the trade in material works of art, is the historical point of reference for the Hugo Helbing Lecture. Using the example of the market for modernist works of art, on which Gustav Klimt's "Portrait of Elisabeth Lederer" recently broke the auction record, the question of the causes and effects of inequality will be explored.

Participation is free of charge.
The event will be broadcast in parallel via Zoom. Further information and the access data for Zoom can be found[here]