Welcome to the BDK!
The Association of German Art Auctioneers (BDK) was founded in 1969, and brings together the leading auction houses for artistic artifacts and books, and represents a joint legal, economic and cultural policy.
Associates of the BDK are bound by the highest of standards when it comes to the sale and procurement of art, in which their activities for dealing with the art market are tied to a legally binding code of practice. Voluntary commitment to the BDK serves to provide peace of mind to our associates' customers, who can enjoy the essence of a new acquisition, its enjoyment, by knowing legalities have been observed.
In the recent past, new challenges have been thrown up by a changing legal framework, such as the 2016 enacted Cultural Property Protection Act, digitisation and globalisation of the marketplace or by the increasing importance of researching and validating a piece's provenance. The BDK has therefore set itself the task of helping its partners through these obstacles, using the utmost transparency, so as to improve the profile and shared interests of its clients in order to strengthen the art market in Germany.
The Presidium
Membership of the BDK
Other than having shared interests in the fields of technical innovations, legal observance and contractual agreements, our membership has enjoyed an increasingly collegial relationship built up over decades of membership.