Digital Editions
Newsletters
Subscribe
Digital Editions
Newsletters
Art market
Museums & heritage
Exhibitions
Books
Podcasts
Columns
Technology
Adventures with Van Gogh
Art market
Museums & heritage
Exhibitions
Books
Podcasts
Columns
Technology
Adventures with Van Gogh
Art market
news

Former owners of insolvent Galerie Thomas in Munich are under fraud investigation

The Munich state prosecutor says the office is looking into “breach of trust in a number of cases,” with damages amounting to millions of euros

Catherine Hickley
4 February 2025
Share
Raimund Thomas has managed the Munich gallery together with his daughter Silke Thomas since 1996 © Photo by Joe Schildhorn/Patrick McMullan via Getty Images

Raimund Thomas has managed the Munich gallery together with his daughter Silke Thomas since 1996 © Photo by Joe Schildhorn/Patrick McMullan via Getty Images

Raimund Thomas, the founder of the once-renowned but now bankrupt Galerie Thomas, and his daughter Silke Thomas, are under investigation on suspicion of fraud, breach of trust and delaying insolvency proceedings, a spokeswoman for the Munich state prosecutor’s office says.

Silke Thomas, who has managed the gallery with her father since 1996, was arrested and taken into custody in December. She was released on 24 January, according to the prosecutor’s spokeswoman.

Silke Thomas’s lawyer, Marcus Traut, declined to comment “out of respect for the pending criminal investigation”.

However, investigators do not presently know the whereabouts of 87-year-old Raimund Thomas, the prosecutor’s spokeswoman says. Damages arising from the suspected misdeeds are estimated to be worth more than €10m, she adds.

Once among the best-known German dealerships on the secondary market, Galerie Thomas sold high-value art, focussing on Expressionism and Modernism. The gallery’s spring 2024 catalogue included works by Emil Nolde, Marc Chagall, Paul Klee, Wassily Kandinsky, Alexander Calder and Gustav Klimt. It declared insolvency on 11 July last year.

“The offices and gallery space in Türkenstrasse 6, Munich, were cleared out at the end of January 2025 and handed over to the landlord,” and any property owned by people or entities other than Galerie Thomas has been returned to them, Hubert Ampferl, the insolvency administrator, wrote in response to emailed questions. He added that over the past months, his team has examined claims from more than 200 creditors.

In mid-December, investigators searched Raimund Thomas’s houses in Grünwald and in Peissenberg, areas south of Munich, his apartment in the city, Silke Thomas’s home and the premises of Galerie Thomas, the prosecutor’s office says. The spokeswoman for the prosecutor says she can not give any predictions on how long the investigations will take: “This is an extensive procedure which is expected to take some time.”

Raimund Thomas founded his gallery in 1964. Galerie Thomas took part in Art Basel in Basel, Miami Beach and Hong Kong, in The Armory Show in New York and in TEFAF in Maastricht. In 2016, Raimund Thomas was awarded the prestigious annual Art Cologne prize, which recognises “exceptional performance in the communication of art”.

Art marketCommercial galleriesBankruptcyMunichGermany
Share
Subscribe to The Art Newspaper’s digital newsletter for your daily digest of essential news, views and analysis from the international art world delivered directly to your inbox.
Newsletter sign-up
Information
About
Contact
Cookie policy
Data protection
Privacy policy
Frequently Asked Questions
Subscription T&Cs
Terms and conditions
Advertise
Sister Papers
Sponsorship policy
Follow us
Instagram
Bluesky
LinkedIn
Facebook
TikTok
YouTube
© The Art Newspaper

Related content

Coronavirusnews
17 April 2020

In cautious loosening of lockdown, Germany allows art galleries to re-open

Small shops to open from next week but large gatherings still banned until at least 31 August

Catherine Hickley
Art marketnews
16 April 2024

Monira Al Qadiri exhibition to open Johann König’s new Munich gallery in a former power plant

König says the new space, König Bergson, is one of the largest commercial galleries for contemporary art in Germany

Catherine Hickley