| Esther Schipper | |
| Birth Place: | Taiwan |
| Nationality: | German |
| Occupation: | Art dealer and gallerist |
| Partner: | Florian Wojnar |
| Children: | 2 |
| Parents: | Kristofer Schipper |
Esther Schipper (born 1963)[1] is a German art dealer and gallerist.
Schipper is the daughter of Dutch sinologist Kristofer Schipper.[2] She was born in Taiwan and lived there until the age of seven.[3] She later grew up in Paris.[4]
Schipper opened her first gallery in Cologne in 1989.[5] [6] Between 1990 and 1992, Schipper and Daniel Buchholz also operated Buchholz & Schipper, a shop specializing in multiples.
In 1995, Schipper opened a project space in Berlin, and moved all of its operations there in 1997.[6] [7] [8] From 2010 until 2017, the gallery was located in a 500m2 space in the former offices of architect Arno Brandlhuber in Berlin's Tiergarten district.[4] Following negotiations launched in 2014, Schipper acquired the majority shareholding in Jörg Johnen GmbH in 2015[9] [10] and then took over both galleries' sites; the Johnen location eventually closed.[11]
In 2017, Esther Schipper moved to a 5800square feet space located inside a former printing facility and warehouse for the local Berlin newspaper Der Tagesspiegel on Potsdamer Strasse; the space was designed by Selldorf Architects.[12] [13] In 2021, the gallery had temporary spaces in Palma de Mallorca (500m2), Zhongshan District, Taipei (250m2)[14] and the Tianjin Free-Trade Zone.[15] Since 2022, the gallery has been operating second location in Paris and a third showroom in a four-story building in Seoul's Itaewon neighbourhood, designed by StudioMDA.[16]
In addition to her work as a gallerist, Schipper was a member of the Art Basel art fair's selection committee for ten years[17] and later joined the selection committee of Frieze Art Fair in New York.[18] She was also one of the co-founders of Berlin's annual Gallery Weekend.[19]
Esther Schipper represents several living artists, including:
In addition, the gallery manages various artist estates, including:
Schipper lives in Mitte, Berlin, with her partner Florian Wojnar and their two children.[2]