About me

I am Britta Kadolsky, and I love writing about art.

Welcome to ART MATTERS (WAS KANN KUNST)

I write about art because I believe this: The more you know, the more you see.

Art doesn’t reveal itself through looking alone. What you know about the artist, the time a work was made, its art-historical references, and its social and geographic context changes how you see it. That’s the knowledge I want to share: clear, interesting, well-grounded, and free of empty phrases.

I’ve run the independent art blog WAS KANN KUNST since 2020. I write about modern and contemporary art, artists, exhibitions, and museums. Many of my posts start with my own exhibition visits and combine art-historical knowledge with personal observations.

ART MATTERS is the English home of my German blog WAS KANN KUNST (“What can art do?”). The name is not a literal translation, but it carries the same idea: art matters, and I want to find out why. Since 2026, I have been publishing selected articles here in English, though not every German article appears in translation.

My Path to Art

My career started in a completely different direction. After 27 years at Deutsche Bank, I studied art history and art education at Goethe University Frankfurt and earned a master’s degree. From 2023 to 2025, I taught art history as an adjunct lecturer at Hochschule RheinMain in Wiesbaden.

Since 2020, I’ve focused on my writing. I visit exhibitions and museums, introduce artists and shows, and place art in its art-historical and social context. What matters most to me is the context in which art is made and seen.

I paint and draw myself, too. That hands-on practice complements my art-historical perspective.

KUNST & KNACKIG

Saskia Wolf and I have produced the art podcast KUNST & KNACKIG (in German only) once a month since 2023. We talk about new and old art and about exhibitions, and we often invite guests from the art world.
We also publish selected posts on each other’s websites.

Other Contributions and Projects

The cultural platform Gespenster der Freiheit publishes posts from WAS KANN KUNST and selected episodes of KUNST & KNACKIG.

I also co-founded the Instagram collective Kunstladies, where we present artists, exhibitions, and art topics together.

I give tours and deliver opening speeches at galleries in and around Frankfurt.

The question behind my blog is turning into a book: What can art actually do, and what can’t it?

My Newsletter

Once a month, I send a newsletter with a new article and more news from WAS KANN KUNST: no spam, no fluff.

With Support

Stephan Manz and Ruth Fühner support my editorial work. Ruth also contributes several guest posts to WAS KANN KUNST.

Christian Fröhlich hosts and maintains my website.

My Topics

• modern and contemporary art
• art history
• artists and their work
• exhibitions and museums
• biennials and international art exhibitions
• women in art
• social and political themes in art
• art outreach

WAS KANN KUNST is independent and noncommercial. I started the blog on my own initiative and fund it myself.

The more you know, the more you see.

At a glance:

Britta Kadolsky is an art historian (M.A., Goethe University Frankfurt), blogger, and podcaster. Since 2020, she has run the independent art blog WAS KANN KUNST, with more than 125 articles on modern and contemporary art. With Saskia Wolf, she produces the podcast KUNST & KNACKIG.