We caught the bear. Now it rotates.
One fable, two syndicates, 115 years apart.
PARIS
André Level convinces twelve friends to pool money and buy paintings by unknowns named Picasso and Matisse. He calls the syndicate La Peau de l'Ours — the bear's skin — after the fable about selling the skin before catching the bear.
BERLIN
Five friends revive the idea and translate the name to German. BAERENFELL buys work by emerging artists because we love it — not to flip it. Haven't sold a thing yet. The bear keeps its skin, for now.
THE MECHANISM — HOW IT ACTUALLY WORKS
Pay in
Buy what we love
Raffle
Rotate
Everyone pays in. We buy by consensus — eventually. Every six months a raffle decides whose wall each piece hangs on. New home, new context, new arguments about lighting.
THE POINT
Direct support for artists at the start of their careers, and a collection nobody owns alone.
Returns are measured in wall space, dinner-table disputes, and the occasional gloat.