ISBN—0-7710-0473-7
Sammlung Szabo
THE SZABO COLLECTION
The Szabo Collection is a privately built collection of contemporary art developed over many years outside institutional frameworks. It brings together works across different media, with a focus on editions, multiples, and conceptual position.HUMAN(e) by Prof. Gábor Ébli
The exhibition "HUMAN(e)" features selected pieces from the Szabo Collection in cooperation with Joachim Baldauf.
Curated by Professor Gábor Ébli (Moholy-Nagy University of Art and Design Budapest), the selection explores how contemporary artists use the photographic medium as a foundation for innovative development.
from left to right
David Studwell, Mickey Rourke II 2016
Renée van Trier, Tête fumé 2016
Tobin Keller, The Family Question series 2008
Günther Uecker, Drachen 1967
Rosemarie Trockel, ABER MENSCHLICH BIN ICH NIE DARÜBER HINWEGGEKOMMEN 1989
Douglas Gordon, if when why what 2022
Maurizio Cattelan, Toilet Paper Vinyl - I Always Remember a Face, Especially When I’ve Sat on It 2014
Damien Hirst, X-Ray Selfportrait 2008
Stefanie Schneider, Bubble Bursting Dream (Cyndi Lauper) 2009
THE SZABO COLLECTION – Multiples, Reflection and Context
The Szabo Collection is dedicated to multiples as an independent artistic practice—understood as a medium of distribution, accessibility, and social resonance. Rather than treating unique works as exclusive status objects, it shifts the focus to what art sets in motion: the questions it raises, the ways it affects us, and the social and personal reflections it opens.
With over 100 works—from Joseph Beuys’ expanded concept of art and Jenny Holzer’s text-based interventions to the material and conceptual explorations of Alicja Kwade and Gerhard Richter—the collection functions as a living archive. Many of the works are closely tied to the collector’s biography, reflecting experiences, boundaries, power structures, and questions of identity.
Editions and multiples are not substitutes, but a deliberate choice of format. They enable artistic positions to extend beyond narrow institutional and economic frameworks, making them more widely accessible. The Szabo Collection is guided by a central question: How can artistic positions be brought together so that their meanings become visible, effective, and shareable—demonstrating that relevance arises from selection and perspective, not financial power.
Ding Dong Therefore
VISO Project, Spike Vase
THE SZABO COLLECTION – Multiples, Reflection & Context
The Szabo Collection focuses on works that question identity, language, and society. Rather than collecting objects as status symbols, it explores how art can function as reflection, critique, and catalyst – both for the viewer and for broader cultural discourse.
This format allows works to circulate beyond singular ownership and fixed institutional contexts.
It follows an open logic of selection shaped over time and through context.
Selected positions include, among others:
Barbara Kruger, Jenny Holzer, Ai Weiwei, Maurizio Cattelan, Gilbert & George, Jonathan Meese, Rosemarie Trockel, Thomas Bayrle, Ed Ruscha, Wolfgang Tillmans, Banksy,
David Shrigley, D*Face, Elmgreen & Dragset, Douglas Gordon, Tracey Emin, Meret Oppenheim,
Piero Manzoni, Günther Uecker, Imi Knoebel.
The Szabo Collection is an ongoing, open project.
It is guided not by market logic but by curatorial choice, critical engagement, and the ability to activate discourse.
Core conviction:
Art can be both mirror and catalyst – for society, for ourselves, and for the questions we choose to ask.
The collection is currently being opened to external perspectives in order to explore how it can be read in different contexts.
Sammlung Szabo
Robert Alexander Szabo
robert@sammlung-szabo.com
It is not housed in a spectacular building, nor does the collector have an inheritance to enable him to pursue this very costly and time-consuming passion.
The editions he has collected have been financed by tips Szabo received during his time as waiter in hotels and restaurants around the world.
Inspired by the idea that ‘art for all’ should be taken literally, Szabo began purchasing editions in 2004 and, alongside his work in the hotel and restaurant industry, began to explore art and its history.
He collects editions of well-known and new works, which are much more affordable than unique pieces. The purchase of art is democratised and thus stands in contrast to the art market, which is otherwise perceived as elitist.
‘It's just as important for me to be at openings to see the latest works by artists in galleries. I just fall back on the editions,’ says the collector.
The collection specialises in prints and graphics, but videos, LPs, sound works and NFTs have also found their way into it.
The collection, which has grown to over 100 works, aims to encourage others to engage with art. In order to show the works publicly, exhibitions are planned at various locations in Berlin at irregular intervals.
Hans Krestel
“In addition to painting and sculpture, as representatives of classical art genres, his collection also includes works from less established artistic media, such as textiles, crossover and sound works. Closely interwoven with Szabo's personality, the artworks address themes such as physicality, ego, memories and metaphysical worlds, and here and there even refer to personal borderline experiences in the collector's life. Socially critical and at the same time life-affirming, self-reflective and boundary-pushing – these are exemplary levels of meaning found in many of his collection pieces”.
Daniela von Damaros
Text Curator
Human(e)
with Joachim Baldauf
Artistic Producer
Sammlung Szabo
Curator
Prof. Gábor Ébli
Moholy-Nagy University of Art & Design Budapest
Hans:
hans@heyhans.xyz
Robert
robert@sammlung-szabo