Description
In 1963, Michael Werner opened the "Werner & Katz" gallery on Kurfürstendamm in Berlin together with Benjamin Katz. The first exhibition showed works by Georg Baselitz. The exhibition was closed by the public prosecutor's office for "causing public offence" and the paintings "Die große Nacht im Eimer" (now hanging in the Museum Ludwig in Cologne) and "Nackter Mann" were confiscated.
In 1964, Michael Werner opened his own gallery, the "1st Orthodox Salon", in a former coal store in Berlin's Pfalzburger Straße.
In 1968, he moved to Cologne and took over Galerie Hake, which he continued to run as Galerie Michael Werner from October 1969. Since then, the gallery has successfully represented some of the most important German post-war artists as well as prominent American and European artists internationally. The gallery's artists include Georg Baselitz, Marcel Broodthaers, James Lee Byars, Jörg Immendorff, Per Kirkeby, Eugène Leroy, Markus Lüpertz, A.R. Penck, Sigmar Polke and Don Van Vliet. The gallery also exhibits works by classical modern artists such as Otto Freundlich, Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Wilhelm Lehmbruck, Henri Michaux, Francis Picabia and others.
From 1982 onwards, Michael Werner established the gallery's artists in the USA, first through collaborations with the renowned New York galleries Ileana Sonnabend, Pace Gallery, Xavier Fourcade and Marian Goodman and then with the Mary Boone Gallery.
In 1990, the Michael Werner Gallery opened its premises on New York's Upper East Side with the "Helden" paintings by Georg Baselitz.
In January 2007, Michael Werner organised an exhibition entitled "Michael Werner. Une saison à Paris", Michael Werner organised a series of exhibitions with artists from the gallery at the renowned Galerie de France.
In 2008, Galerie Michael Werner opened an office in Berlin and took over Galerie Julius Werner for its exhibitions, which was run by Veneklasen/Werner from September 2009 to July 2016.
In 2012, the Michael Werner Gallery opened another location in London's Mayfair district with an exhibition of new paintings by Peter Doig.
In August 2009, the Berlin office was initially relocated to Märkisch Wilmersdorf - in 2021 it returned to Berlin, to Hardenbergstraße 9a, Charlottenburg, initially in a temporary space on the first floor.Following the closure of the Cologne location at the end of 2022, the main premises on the ground floor were also opened in March 2023.
In 2024, Michael Werner will open offices in Los Angeles and Athens.