Karsten Schubert

Karsten Schubert (12 August 1961 – 30 July 2019) was a German art dealer and publisher working in London.

Before opening his own gallery, Schubert worked at the Lisson Gallery.

Schubert ran Karsten Schubert London, initially in collaboration, and with the backing of, Richard Salmon, from 1986 to 1991.

His first exhibition was of the sculptor Alison Wilding, that he continued to show until his death.

His 1988 group show of Ian Davenport, Gary Hume and Michael Landy was one of the first commercial gallery shows of artists that would later come to be known as Young British Artists (YBA).

The gallery quickly came to represent many of the YBA artists and several non-British artists.

In addition to the exhibition programme the gallery also contributed to the publication of a series of catalogues and books which offered an overview of the YBA scene.

The gallery relocated from Charlotte Street to smaller premises in Foley Street, continuing its exhibition and publishing programme.

Rachel Whiteread's 1996 departure from the gallery (to Anthony d'Offay) triggered a reorientation of Schubert's activities.

He became a private artists' representative and art dealer working with a select number of artists of whose art he particularly liked, most famously Bridget Riley.

In 2007, the company moved to premises on Golden Square in Soho then, in January 2014 moved to Lexington Street, Soho.

That same year, Schubert co-organised an exhibition of Bridget Riley’s work at David Zwirner Gallery in London.

Schubert was a trustee of Space, London.

He was also a faculty member of the Fine Arts programme, for 2015–2016, at the British School at Rome.

In 2015, Schubert was diagnosed with medullary thyroid cancer.

In July 2019, he died aged 57 from the disease.