Who We Are
OstLicht is a group of specialists and passionate photography devotees with years of professional experience in the field. We use our expertise to find unique hidden gems or works of promising newcomers to the art scene and share them with the photo admirers’ community worldwide. We research, collect, represent, show and offer our bespoke service to a wide range of customers internationally.
The company was founded by entrepreneur and photo enthusiast Peter Coeln who for more than two decades now has provided collectors worldwide with the most sought-after vintage cameras and prints available. He established the Leica Shop in Vienna’s 7th district, a mecca for every camera aficionado and also launched WestLicht Museum, whose exhibition programme and unique collection of historic cameras attracts visitors from all over the world, and OstLicht Photo Auction, which twice a year offers masterpieces of fine art photography and has built a history of record-breaking results.
OstLicht Gallery
OstLicht Gallery was founded in 2012 on the premises of the Anker Brotfabrik in Vienna and has established itself as the leading Austrian gallery dealing exclusively with photography. Located in one of Vienna's upcoming cultural hubs, the Gallery’s 400 m2 space has housed comprehensive retrospectives, solo-exhibitions and conceptual group shows by the likes of Nobuyoshi Araki, Ren Hang, Stefanie Moshammer, David LaChapelle, VALIE EXPORT, Juergen Teller, Julian Schnabel and Cora Pongracz. OstLicht Gallery exclusively represents a range of contemporary shooting stars and emerging photographers. We regularly join major international art fairs for photography, such as Photo London, Photofairs Shanghai or viennacontemporary.
New storage facilities opened in 2015 are the home of OstLicht Collection, which holds over 120.000 prints and unites 19th century, modern and contemporary masterpieces in one place. Our diverse and extensive holdings cover a broad range of the finest creations in the history of the medium: from vintage masterworks of the 19th and 20th century, iconic fine art photographs and classics of photojournalism to Viennese Actionism of the 1960s and cutting edge contemporary artists. We encourage visits at our collection by appointment for the close-up study of selected originals. The collection administration office coordinates specific enquiries and appointments in advance.
Our photo auctions, which have taken place in spring and autumn each year since 2009, have quickly assumed a central role on the auction market in the German-speaking world and internationally. Our hammer has come down on vintage prints from the 19th century, iconic images from the 20th century, and contemporary photographs alike. Big personalities in front of and behind the camera as well as significant moments in recent history have made their impression on our auction block. Our photo auctions’ broad spectrum shows that photography has shaped people’s image of the world like no other medium in the past 150 years. Our auction house also accommodates a carefully curated selection of photobooks.
