Karsten Schubert

Early in 1986, a gallery opened at 85 Charlotte Street in London's West End. Its eponymous owner, Karsten Schubert (1961–2019), was a Berlin, German-born art dealer who was to play a large part in establishing what was to become known as the Young British Artists (YBA's). He had previously worked at the Lisson Gallery, one of the first London galleries to promote the work of the then-unknown British artists of the day. He was financed and soon established his gallery and began to promote the work of Michael Craig-Martin and other Goldsmiths' graduate students. His first exhibition was of the sculptor Alison Wilding, whose work he continued to show until his death some 30 years later.

Others followed, including Gary Hume, Michael Landy, Anya Gallaccio and Ian Davenport. In the early 1990's, the Gallery folded due in large part to a cooling in the YBA art market. In 1993, Schubert reopened in a nearby, cheaper location at Foley Street, by which time many of the YBA's had left him, and this new venture only lasted a mere three years. He reopened for a third time in Lexington Street, Soho and promoted amongst many the work of Bridget Riley and Tess Jaray. Diagnosed with cancer in 2015, he recuperated from treatment at Claridge’s, his hotel bills paid by two friends. The experience was recorded by Schubert in a novel, Room 225-6, the proceeds of which help fund a charity doing research into robotic surgery.